Ball State Board of Trustees approve tuition rates, general budget for the next academic year

<p>Ball State's Board of Trustees approved the 2019-20 general budget, the tuition and mandatory fee rates for the next two academic years and the salary and wage plan for Ball State employees. The 1.25 percent tuition rate increase is the lowest since 1977. <strong>Unsplash, Photo Courtesy</strong></p>

Ball State's Board of Trustees approved the 2019-20 general budget, the tuition and mandatory fee rates for the next two academic years and the salary and wage plan for Ball State employees. The 1.25 percent tuition rate increase is the lowest since 1977. Unsplash, Photo Courtesy

Undergraduate Tuition and Mandatory Fee Change:

2018-19:
In-state - $9,896; Out-of-state - $26,468

2019-20:
In-state - $10,020; Out-of-state - $26,800

2020-21:
In-state - $10,144; Out-of-state - $27,132


Graduate Tuition and Mandatory Fee Change:

2018-19:
In-state - $9,386; Out-of-state - $22,328

2019-20:
In-state - $9,512; Out-of-state - $22,616

2020-21:
In-state - $9,638; Out-of-state - $22,904

A slight increase in tuition rates and a 0.6 percent increase in the university's general budget is expected for the 2019-20 academic year.

Ball State’s Board of Trustees approved the tuition rates for the next two academic years among other budgetary allocations for the 2019-20 academic year at its meeting Wednesday in Emens Auditorium.

In-state and out-of-state tuition and mandatory fees for undergraduate students will be increased by 1.25 percent for the 2019-20 academic year and by 1.24 percent for the 2020-21 academic year.

For in-state graduate students this increase will be 1.34 percent for the 2019-20 academic year and 1.32 percent for the 2020-21 academic year. For out-of-state graduate students these numbers are 1.29% for the 2019-20 academic year and 1.27% the following year.

According to Bernie Hannon, outgoing vice president for business affairs and treasurer, the 1.25% increase for undergraduate students is well below the projected inflation for the upcoming academic year and Ball State would still maintain the lowest tuition and fees among Mid-American Conference schools.

Hannon also noted that Ball State’s published rate increases for the 2020 and 2021 fiscal years are relatively lower than other Indiana public colleges and universities, second only to Purdue University.

He said this would be the lowest single year tuition rate increase since 1977 and the combined growth rate for the last eight years would be the lowest since World War II.

In a Ball State press release, Board Chair Rick Hall noted that the increase fell below the tuition increase rate recommended by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, the inflation rate projected by the Federal Open Market Committee over the next two years and the national average for four-year public universities.

“Our ability to keep tuition rate increases at 2% or less since 2013 is no accident,” Hall said in the release. “We have been entrusted with the stewardship of public funds and Indiana families’ investments, and we take that responsibility to heart. Our prudent fiscal management has enabled us to keep tuition increases low and provide our students with high quality, affordable education.”

The press release also states Ball State has more than doubled its institutional financial aid offered to students — from $21.5 million in 2013 to $46 million by the end of this academic year.

Other fee changes include $25 per credit hour for online courses, fixing recreational fee at the existing $87 irrespective of credit hours, making the health fee mandatory for all credit hours at the existing $76 and increases to the Intensive English Institute program fees for the 2020 fiscal year.

Also discussed was the salary and wage plans for the 2019-20 academic year — a 1 percent increase to the salary pool for all employees, an additional $323,000 for faculty promotions and a 1 percent increase to an employee who performs satisfactory or better in the annual performance review. These increases will be added to the employee base salary in July 2019.

Hannon also said there was a potential for an additional 1 percent salary supplement after January 2020 if the mid-year forecast was favorable and after considering other factors.

The 2019-20 general fund budget was set at $391.2 million — a 2.5 million increase from the 2018-19 fiscal year.

Budget reductions and reallocations for the next year include a $2.3 million cut to salary and benefits, $1.8 million cut to science and engineering and other support and $400,000 cut to travel expenses.

Hannon, who will be retiring and temporarily serving in an advisory role for the board for about two to three months, reflected on his time at the university and credited his team.

“The people who work her are fantastic. All the credit I get goes to my team,” he said. “Working at this college at this time has been just an absolute honor for me.”

Contact Rohith Rao with comments at rprao@bsu.edu or on Twitter @RaoReports.

Comments

More from The Daily






This Week's Digital Issue


Loading Recent Classifieds...