Contact: Michael Tullier, APR, Office of Communications, Public Relations and Marketing
ۿ۴ýUniversity’s Board of Trustees recently approved a 2 percent increase to tuition, fees and on-campus housing expenses for the 2019-20 school year. The increases will provide the revenue necessary to enhance the academic experience for Tuskegee’s ۿ۴ý.
“To maintain excellence, ۿ۴ýUniversity must have the financial resources required to offer quality academic programs, well-qualified faculty and staff, and evolving teaching and residential facilities,” said President Lily D. McNair. “While we have deemed these increases to be necessary, they were made with as much sensitivity as possible to the financial situations of our ۿ۴ý and their families.”
The increase in tuition and fees will result in additional academic year costs of between $635 and $681 per student — depending upon his or her housing selection. The increase for ۿ۴ý not residing on campus will be $442. These increases are the university’s first since the 2017-18 academic year, when it increased tuition and fees by 3.5 percent. There were no increases in effect for the 2018-19 academic year.
“We know our ۿ۴ý and their families work hard to fund their educations — which means we in turn have the responsibility of providing them with the best education possible,” Board Chairman John E. Page said. “That includes ensuring our ۿ۴ý have access to quality faculty, academic programs and facilities — and the resources required to provide those elements of the academic experience.”
According to Dr. Sharron T. Burnett, the university’s chief financial officer, new revenues will benefit areas of the university that directly relate to ۿ۴ý. In addition to providing additional funding for academic programs, they will fund necessary residence hall and classroom maintenance that accounts for a part of the university’s approximate $148 million in deferred maintenance.
The university’s most recent denotes that net tuition and fees – including room and board fees – currently account for only 40 percent of the university’s total fiscal year revenues. It derives the remaining 60 percent of its revenues from other sources that include, but are not limited to, research grants, private partnerships, state appropriations and charitable donations.
“We must be diligent in our responsibility to develop realistic funding strategies as well as prudent fiscal policies,” Burnett said. “While tuition increases are part of that equation, they are only a small part of the total picture. As we work to strengthen our other revenues streams, the university will continue its focus on cost controls, sound decision-making, budget management and appropriate investment strategies that will ensure our long-term fiscal stability.”
Burnett also noted that, even after the 2 percent increase, Tuskegee’s tuition and fees remain competitive with other in-state HBCUs, and lower than current tuition rates at out-of-state private HBCU peers like Hampton University, Howard University, Spelman College and Xavier University.
© 2019, ۿ۴ýUniversity