CSU Board of Governors approves undergraduate, veterinary tuition increases

Molly Bohannon
Fort Collins Coloradoan

Colorado State University undergraduate students are set to see a tuition increase next year. 

At both the Fort Collins and Pueblo campuses, undergraduate students coming from in state will see a 2% increase in their tuition, while students from out of state will see a 3% increase. 

In Fort Collins, graduate students will not see an increase in their tuition — and graduate student workers will receive a 3% raise — though professional veterinary medicine students will see a 2% increase. Student fees are also set to increase by 1.4%, per documents presented at the Board of Governors' June meeting on Thursday. 

The increases in tuition, fees and pay were approved as part of the schools' budgets for the upcoming fiscal year. 

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Currently at the Fort Collins campus, tuition and general fees would cost an in-state student $12,874 a year and an out-of-state student $32,734. Those estimates, taken from CSU's website, do not include housing and dining costs, books and supplies, or other educational costs. 

The approved tuition increase will add about $200 for in-state students and nearly $900 for out-of-state students in Fort Collins, resulting in about $8 million of extra revenue for the university, according to the documents.

A similar increase was approved last June when the board approved a 3% increase for undergraduate, graduate and professional students. Last year's additional revenue from the tuition increase was expected to increase the university's revenue by about $23 million. 

Despite the increase, the budget approved by the board still predicted a deficit of about $6 million for the campus. 

Henry Sobanet, CSU's chief financial officer and senior vice chancellor for administration and government relations, told the board the finance team recommended passing the budget despite it being in a deficit because the deficit was calculated assuming there would be no enrollment growth.

If there was to be nonresident enrollment growth, the revenue would likely "close that gap," Sobanet said. 

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Molly Bohannon covers education for the Coloradoan. Follow her on Twitter @molboha or contact her at mbohannon@coloradoan.com. Support her work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.