The Arkansas Tech University Board of Trustees approved tuition and fee changes as part of a $173 million operating budget at ATU for the 2019-20 fiscal year during a meeting at the Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center on Thursday, May 16.
Included in the budget is a 2.6 percent tuition increase for undergraduate students on the Arkansas Tech campus in Russellville. Undergraduate tuition will increase from $226 per student semester credit hour (SSCH) in 2018-19 to $232 per SSCH in 2019-20.
Graduate and doctoral tuition will increase 2.8 percent from $284 per SSCH in 2018-19 to $292 per SSCH in 2019-20, while tuition on the Ozark campus of ATU will increase 3.2 percent from $125 per SSCH in 2018-19 to $129 per SSCH in 2019-20.
Tuition rates will continue to be doubled for out-of-state students who do not qualify for an out-of-state tuition waiver.
“Our foremost priorities in building our budget each year are student access and student success,” said Dr. Robin E. Bowen, ATU president. “Through a transparent and inclusive process, representatives from the ATU faculty, staff and student body work diligently to develop a recommended budget for our trustees to consider. I appreciate each of the individuals who provided input during the 2019-20 budget process as well as the Board of Trustees for its careful consideration and approval of our recommendation. As a result, we prepare to enter a new fiscal year with a balanced budget that will allow us to continue investing in students in a manner consistent with our strategic plan.”
The 2019-20 ATU budget includes increases to the instructional support fee (from $11 per SSCH to $12.25 per SSCH), the facilities fee (from $16 per SSCH to $18 per SSCH), the health and wellness fee (from $7.75 per SSCH to $8.50 per SSCH), the library fee (from $1 per SSCH to $1.25 per SSCH) and the athletic student fee (from $19.25 per SSCH to $20 per SSCH).
Trustees approved a new fee that will help provide short-term and long-term fulfillment of ATU’s need for a student union and recreation center.
The incremental fee based upon classification will assist in funding the renovation of a space in the Hull Physical Education Building and the construction of a new student union and recreation center on the Russellville campus.
During the 2019-20 fiscal year, ATU freshmen at Russellville will be assessed a $6.25 per SSCH student union and recreation center fee. The fee will be less for sophomores ($5 per SSCH), juniors ($3 per SSCH), seniors ($1 per SSCH) and graduate students ($1 per SSCH).
Individuals meeting the definitions as online, Ozark campus and concurrent students will be exempt from the public safety fee, the student activity fee and the student union and recreation center fee in 2019-20.
Students on the Ozark campus of ATU will pay a $12 per SSCH infrastructure fee in 2019-20. That fee was $10 per SSCH during 2018-19.
