There will be a zero tuition increase for all Kent State University students – undergraduate and graduate – for the coming academic year, Kent State’s Board of Trustees announced today in approving the university’s fiscal year 2008 budget.   

In holding tuition for the 2007-08 academic year at the same rate as 2006-07, trustees said they welcomed the chance to take this positive step for Kent State students and their families.

“Kent State is committed to keeping university study affordable and accessible for all Ohio students,” said Sandra Harbrecht, chair of the Board of Trustees. “Today, we take a historic step, freezing undergraduate tuition and going further by also holding the line on graduate tuition. We believe that a college degree not only provides opportunity to the graduates, but also contributes the type of knowledge workers that will drive economic development in Ohio.”

Tuition rates will remain unchanged ($4,215 a semester for fulltime undergraduate Ohio residents) for fall of 2007 for both undergraduate and graduate students, though some class fees charged by academic departments will be adjusted. University officials also noted that, due to funding provided by the state for the second year of the budget cycle, Kent State students could anticipate a zero tuition increase for fall semester 2008 – meaning two consecutive years with no tuition increase.

Holding the line on tuition was made possible by the investment in higher education contained in the biennium state budget.

“We commend the governor and the leadership of the Ohio House and Senate for making higher education a budget priority,” said Kent State President Lester A. Lefton. “Kent State will do its part in continuing to promote efficiency and productivity, and we will continue to invest in the success of our students and the excellence of our academic programs.”

The Board approved a balanced operating budget of $445 million ($444,993,281) for Kent State’s eight-campus network for the fiscal year 2008 (July 1, 2007, through June 30, 2008), an increase of 1.9 percent over FY 2007.

Budget priorities include increases in the university’s financial aid programs, scholarships and other tuition support; new faculty positions and other academic program investments at the Kent and regional campuses; support for the coming capital campaign; and a salary pool increase of about 3 percent for employees.    

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