The MSU Board of Trustees approved a 13.5 percent tuition hike Thursday for new students and a 9.3 percent raise for returning students for the 2005-06 academic school year.
The increase also includes a 15 percent raise in financial aid, which will bring an additional $6.4 million to students receiving it.
President Lou Anna K. Simon said the different rates for students was necessary to protect current student retention and graduation rates. "They're relatively complex reccomendations instead of across the board tuition increases," Simon said.
Simon said the the university will continue to tighten up the budget wherever possible without affecting the quality of education. "We've already changed the shape of MSU and if we continue to change the shape of MSU, it could potentially change the quality of the university," Simon said.
"We've really tried to move forward and move the university forward in future years," Trustee Don Nugent said. "We are committed to continue to have a degree from MSU be a highly valued commodity."
Tuition at MSU was $206.25 per credit hour for in-state freshman and sophomore students for the 2004-05 academic year. With the 9.3 percent increase, tuition will now be $225.43 per credit hour for returning undergraduate students.
In 2003 the board approved a 9.9 percent tuition increase for 2003-04 year.
Under a tuition-restraint program in the 1990s, led by former MSU President M. Peter McPherson, MSU held tuition increases below 3 percent for seven years and its tuition increased by only 2.4 percent last year.
On Wednesday, Wayne State University voted on an 18.5 percent tuition hike. Central Michigan University decided last week to raise freshmen tuition by 19 percent, with a guarantee that tuition won't increase for current students for the next five years.
MSU is still unsure of how much money it will receive from the state for the 2005-06 school year. University officials have said the best budget formula for MSU would be the plan approved by the Michigan House of Representatives, which would give the university about $287 million for the 2005-06 fiscal year. Last year, MSU received $285.2 million in funding.
Trustee Colleen McNamara said she knows that students will find the tuition increases difficult. "It's important that they get something for all that they've sacrificed," she said. "We've really made the best of a bad situation."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
