WEST PLAINS, Mo. – Tuition for the 2018-2019 academic year will increase for students attending Missouri State University-West Plains, but the amount of the increase will depend on whether the state appropriation for the Missouri State University System’s operating budget remains the same as this year.
At Thursday’s Executive Committee meeting of the Missouri State University Board of Governors in Springfield, members approved a resolution calling for fees to increase $6, from $124 per credit hour to $130 per credit hour for in-state students and from $248 per credit hour to $260 per credit hour for out-of-state students.
However, $5 of the $6 increase in the in-state fee will be rolled back if the operating appropriation for the system in the FY19 state budget stays at $83,401,060 and the traditional 3 percent withholding amount to cover any potential revenue shortfalls during the next fiscal year isn’t increased.
The anticipated $1 increase meets a request from the Missouri General Assembly that tuition for Missouri resident undergraduate students increase no more than 1 percent next year under the Higher Education Student Funding Act.
The out-of-state fee increase will remain the same regardless of the state appropriation and withholding amount.
“We understand the impact that increasing tuition has on students from our area,” Chancellor Drew Bennett said. “We carefully weigh the growing needs of our campus and the standards that we want to maintain against what it will cost our students in tuition and other sources of revenue available when making these decisions.
OTHER FEE INCREASES
Several other fees also will increase. The fee charged for online courses will go from $142 to $148 per credit hour for in-state and out-of-state students, and courses in the Associate of Science in Nursing degree program will go from $159 to $171 per credit hour for Missouri residents and $318 to $342 per credit hour for out-of-state students.
Students in the Associate of Applied Science in Respiratory Care program will pay $161 per credit hour for in-state students, up $12 from last year’s rate of $149; out-of-state students will pay $322 per credit hour, up $24 from last year’s $298 rate.
University officials explained the fee structure for online, nursing and respiratory care courses is different than that for other classes due to the additional costs associated in providing these programs.
Fees for classes in the Viticulture and Enology Science and Technology Alliance (VESTA) program, headquartered at the Missouri State University campus in Mountain Grove, will increase $10, going from $210 per credit hour to $220 per credit hour.
The Common Fee also will be increased from $17 per credit hour to $18.50 per credit hour. The $1.50 increase was approved by student vote during the 2017 fall semester. The fee covers a variety of additional student charges, including capital projects, student activities, professional services, computers and technology, admission applications, diplomas, graduation, caps and gowns, transcripts and the Student Rec Center.
Course fees for high school dual credit and dual enrollment students will go up in 2018-19, as well, from $63 to $65 – half of the tuition rate for Missouri residents rounded to the nearest dollar.
In addition, dual credit students taking dual credit courses at area high schools will be charged a modified Common Fee of $6 per credit hour, bringing the total charge to $71 per credit hour.
Dual enrollment students taking courses on the Missouri State-West Plains campus will pay the $18.50 per credit hour Common Fee, making their total charge $83.50.
RESIDENCE HALL FEES
Students staying in the Grizzly House residence hall also will see an increase in room and board. Those fees will go up from $2,910 per semester for housing and a 20-meal-per-week plan at the Putnam Student Center cafeteria to $2,968 per semester in 2018-19. Summer charges will increase from $1,250 to $1,275.
Students staying at the Grizzly Lofts, a privately-owned residence hall near campus on Missouri Avenue that is managed by the university, will pay $3,060 per semester for housing and a 20-meal-per-week plan at the on-site Sole Café. This is a $60 increase over the charge for the 2017-18 academic year.
For more information about tuition and student fees, contact the Missouri State-West Plains business office at 417-255-7260.