For many college students, one of the most important things that they need is for tuition rates to stay the same. Last month, the Missouri Southern State University Board of Governors voted to freeze tuition rates for in-state undergraduate students next year. The catch is, however, their allocations must come in from the state this year. 

In order for tuition rates to remain the same, the state of Missouri must approve a budget set about by Gov. Jay Nixon that includes a six percent increase of appropriations. If it is voted to increase appropriations by less than that amount, Missouri Southern reserved the right to raise the tuition rate from $177.03 per credit hour to $178.61 per credit hour. This increase, which is less than one percent, would generate about $150,000 in revenue for the University. 

While in-state tuition is frozen for the moment, out-of-state tuition has changed. The Missouri Southern governing board voted to raise out-of-state tuition by $3.16 per credit hour, bringing the total cost per credit hour to $357.22. It also increased the cost of books per credit hour by $12, bringing the total to $14. 

Steven Stokes, a freshman computational mathematics major from Carl Junction, said, “I’ve got an institutional scholarship from Missouri Southern that I heavily rely on, and my question would be are they going to raise that too or am I going to be losing out on money if tuition goes up. It was a full ride, so will it still be a full ride? I definitely understand why they might have to raise costs, but I know a lot of people who come here because it’s affordable so this could hurt lower income students [for whom] this is their only option.”

Jillian Wirtz, a junior mass communication major from South Bend, Indiana, said, “If tuition rates go up I won’t be happy about it. But on the other hand, Southern has a lot to offer. It seems like enrollment is going up so hopefully the cost will stay at a decent rate for the next couple of years. Other than that, it sucks, it’s disappointing, but as much as Southern has to offer, the proposed increase is not a huge deal.”