Tuition rising next fall at Idaho universities

BOISE – The State Board of Education voted Wednesday to hike the price of attending Idaho’s public universities, sustaining a trend of annual tuition increases yet still keeping tuition costs under $7,000 per year for undergraduates at all four campuses.

The board agreed to raise resident undergraduates’ tuition by 6.9 percent at Boise State University and by 5 percent at University of Idaho. Tuition at Idaho State University and Lewis-Clark State College will jump by 4.5 percent and 4 percent, respectively, starting next fall.

Not all university presidents got what they wanted from trustees. For example, BSU requested an 8.6 percent rate hike, and UI asked for 5.9 percent, but the increases are still expected to generate about $10.6 million in additional revenue for the four universities. BSU would get the largest chunk, adding an estimated $8.2 million in new tuition money.

“We certainly understand the role that cost to student must play, absolutely, but obviously cost to student cannot be separated from value received,” BSU President Robert Kustra said in defending the cost increase during the board’s meeting in Moscow. “We analyze that up against the funding we’ve been given.”

The decision from the governing board of Idaho’s public universities marks the 14th consecutive year of tuition increases of at least 4 percent at all four universities. Since 2001, tuition has increased by more than 100 percent at those campuses.