Arkansas State University system announces no tuition or fee raises next year

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (TB&P) — The COVID-19 pandemic radically changed how Arkansas State University system delivered its spring semester to students, but there will be no change to the amount of money students will pay to attend the state’s second largest university this coming fall.

Institutions in the system will not raise tuition and fees for students this fall, while reducing budgeted expenses by almost $14 million, or 5%, in anticipation of lower state revenue and possible enrollment losses.

The ASU System Board of Trustees voted Thursday in a videoconference meeting to approve the $279.8 million system budget, which system President Chuck Welch said is very conservative and cautious during unprecedented times resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. This fall will be the second time in three years that ASU System institutions have not increased tuition rates.

“The situation we face today is why we work so hard to build and maintain healthy, financially stable institutions,” Welch said. “We’ve chosen to make difficult spending decisions rather than use reserve funds. We spared our faculty and staff from salary cuts and furloughs, and we kept tuition and fees steady for students and parents facing financial uncertainty.”

Welch said the spending cuts, while appropriate and necessary this year, would not be sustainable. Institutions will put on hold capital projects and also scale back deferred maintenance projects, professional development and travel. Hiring freezes will also be in place, he added.

Read the full article on the Talk Business & Politics website.