No tuition increase for in-state freshmen next fall

Tuition rates will remain the same for next fall’s in-state freshmen.

For the second consecutive year, there will be no base tuition increase for in-state U of I freshmen next fall after university trustees approved tuition, fee and housing rates Thursday at their meeting in Student Center West.

Tuition for in-state freshmen next fall will remain at the 2014-15 and 2015-16 academic year levels: $10,584 per year at UIC, $12,036 at Urbana-Champaign and $9,405 at UIS. Under the state’s guaranteed tuition law, passed in 2004, a student’s tuition remains fixed for four years.

Despite fiscal uncertainty as the state budget impasse continues for its seventh month, the university is committed to student access and affordability, University President Timothy Killeen said.

“Those challenges will not derail us,” Killeen said Thursday at the board meeting.

“Our financial challenges cannot detract from our core mission – opening our doors wide to provide the opportunities that propel students into life and supply the human capital that is critical to move our state forward.”

Christophe Pierre, vice president for academic affairs, said maintaining tuition rates would keep the university competitive with peer institutions and increase enrollment efforts. After last fall’s tuition freeze, enrollment of in-state freshmen across the university’s three campuses increased by 10.2 percent, from 10,272 to 11,315.

“Our goal is for the University of Illinois to be the attractive choice for the residents of Illinois,” Pierre said.

Tuition for nonresident freshmen will remain unchanged at UIC, and a new program will offer reduced rates for some high-achieving students. International students will see a $1,000 increase. Tuition for nonresident and international freshmen will remain unchanged at the Springfield campus and will rise 1.7 percent at the Urbana-Champaign campus, an inflation-related increase.

A tuition differential for UIC freshmen in business administration will increase by $180 a year. Other tuition differentials, which cover additional costs in selected areas of study, will not change.

Student fees will remain at current levels at UIC ($3,092) and Springfield ($2,016). Fees at the Urbana-Champaign campus will increase by $4 to $3,022 because of an annual transportation increase that was approved in a student referendum.

Student housing rates will increase slightly next fall.

Undergraduate housing costs at UIC, based on the standard two-student room and 14-meal plan, will increase $232 (2.2 percent) to $10,960 each year. Housing rates will rise $280 at Urbana-Champaign and $50 at UIS.

In other business:

• The board approved the appointment of Susan Poser as UIC provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, effective Feb. 1. Poser, dean and professor of law at the University of Nebraska College of Law, succeeds longtime UIC administrator Eric Gislason, who was appointed interim vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost in August 2014. Poser will be UIC’s chief academic and chief operating officer and senior adviser to Chancellor Michael Amiridis on academic policy, strategic direction, enrollment management and resource planning.

• Trustees approved a revised policy requiring background checks for all new faculty, academic professional and civil service employees. Revisions sharpen the policy’s focus on safety, clear up ambiguities and distinguish between criminal background checks and other pre-employment background checks. The revisions were made after university faculty senates voiced their concerns over the original policy, which passed by trustees in September, on issues such as privacy and whether it is unfair to candidates with criminal backgrounds who have paid their debt to society. Under the policy and its implementation guidelines, there is no list of crimes that automatically disqualifies someone from employment.
• The board re-elected trustee Edward McMillan as chair during the annual election of officers. McMillan, a U of I alumnus and national leader in agribusiness, has served on the board since 2009. He begins his second one-year term as chairman. “It’s such an honor to serve on the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois,” McMillan said. “I appreciate your confidence.”
  Karen Hasara and James Montgomery were elected to serve with McMillan on the Executive Board. Trustees also re-elected Thomas Bearrows as university legal counsel, Susan Kies as secretary of the board and university and Walter Knorr as comptroller. Dedra “DeeDee” Williams will replace Kies as secretary after she retires June 30.