President Cantwell announces an increase in USU tuition
On Tuesday, March 6, President Elizabeth R. Cantwell and USUSA President Abraham Rodriguez invited students, faculty and staff to join them during the Truth in Tuition and Student Fees hearing in the TSC ballroom.
Traditionally, these hearings are held together as one, but Cantwell decided to hold them separately, back-to-back, because student fees and tuition come from two different revenue sources.
The event was also broadcast online to make it accessible for statewide campuses.
Current and future USUSA officers, faculty, staff and students attended the Truth in Tuition hearing to learn that tuition is to be raised by 3.4% across all USU campuses, starting fall semester 2024.
There will be no increase in tuition for technical education, and this does not affect differential tuition at this time.
This increase will continue to retain Utah State’s University spot as one of the most expensive schools in the state, alongside the University of Utah and Westminster College.
“The top three reasons for rising college tuition, all of which apply to our statewide system, include college and statewide campuses providing more student support services, changes in funding levels from state and local government, and overall rising costs for services,” Cantwell said.
USU student, Jack Johnson, asks a question about the proposed tuition adjustments.
At the second hearing, student fees were proposed to be raised by 1.4% only at the Logan campus. This fee increase was approved by the USUSA Executive Council, as well as the student fee advisory board. This increase is being made to go towards numerous different improvements, such as replacing equipment and increasing staffing at the ARC, as well as making the Logan campus more accessible through the use of Aggie Shuttles.
“Starting with students, going from the student fee advisory board to the USUSA Executive Council is really unusual in my experience. Driving these fee increase requests directly from students is something I wholly appreciate. It works pretty well,” Cantwell said. “I think it’s a good process. It’s not something I would ever change.”
Both the proposed tuition increase and student fee increase will go through the Utah Higher Board of Education on March 22.
USUSA president-elect Matt Richey also attended the hearing. He will be the student body president in office during the upcoming semester where these increases will be implemented. Richey was involved with the approval of the student fee increase. he said there are two different processes for student fees at the Logan Campus, versus statewide campuses.
“It’s just set up to meet the needs of students,” Richey said.
As Richey prepares to fill the shoes of Rodriguez, he talked about his future of collaborating with Cantwell.
“I think it will be a really good opportunity to network with someone who knows a lot. She cares about her job and wants to do a good job for the students at Utah State, so I am looking forward to learning from her and supporting her in any way that I can,” Richey said.