(The Center Square) – Tuition will be rising throughout the University of Missouri system along with ironwork for a new $33 million football indoor practice facility on the Columbia campus.
The University of Missouri Board of Curators approved this week the following increases in undergraduate tuition at its campuses, effective this fall:
University of Missouri-Columbia: 5% or $15.30 per credit hour; graduate tuition increases 5%
University of Missouri-Kansas City: 4.1% or $12.30 per credit hour; graduate tuition increases 4%
Missouri University of Science and Technology: 3.5% or $10.60 per credit hour with no increase for graduate students;
University of Missouri-St. Louis: 2% increase, or $7.60 per credit hour; graduate tuition increases 2%
Missouri law allows increases up to 9.1%.
“These modest increases will help us maintain our commitment to providing accessible, high-quality education to the residents of Missouri and beyond,” Mun Choi, UM President, said in a statement. “Our universities remain competitive among peer institutions and the overall cost of attendance remains low.”
The Board of Curators presented and discussed the tuition increase in April. Increased revenue will provide funding for investments in student advising and student success, increasing the number of course sections and scholarships, decreasing the time to graduation, providing more experiential opportunities, renovating classrooms and laboratories, and investing in research support to attract better faculty and grow the state’s economy.
The Board also discussed ways to make tuition changes more predictable. Students and constituent groups are contributing ideas for establishing a variety of tuition models and eliminating supplemental fees. Final proposals will be presented to the Board for approval next spring.
“Our number one priority is student success,” Darryl Chatman, chair of the Board of Curators, said in a statement. “These tuition increases will allow us to invest in the programs and resources that improve student success and enable our students to graduate sooner, such as increased course section availability, research opportunities, the best technology and more faculty.”
The Board approved construction of an 86,400-square-foot athletic facility to be funded by private donations and utilizing short-term financing. The new building will have a 100-yard field and promises to alleviate scheduling conflicts for practices. The current facility has a 70-yard field and is shared by baseball, softball, soccer and other athletic programs. Construction is expected to be complete in December 2020. It will be built adjacent to the South End Zone Complex at Faurot Field, completed in 2019 at a cost of $98 million.
