MISSOULA – The Montana Board of Regents has approved multiple tuition hikes over the next two years for both resident and out-of-state students at campuses across the Montana University System.
The biennial tuition plan includes a tuition freeze for resident undergraduate students for the upcoming year, but a 3% increase the following year, The Missoulian reported.
Out-of-state undergraduate students can expect a 4% tuition increase next year at both the University of Montana and Montana State University, bringing the cost of an academic year to $26,112 and $26,087, respectively. Montana State University in Bozeman will then move to a 5% tuition increase for out-of-state students.
“I really believe that our responsibility is to serve the resident students,” Regent Todd Buchanan said in proposing removing the 3% increase to resident undergraduate tuition rates. The amendment failed.
“I truly also believe that non-resident students subsidize the quality of the education on campuses, and they’re a market of learners that we treat much differently than our resident students,” Buchanan said.
Graduate students across campuses in Montana will also be subject to tuition hikes. The University of Montana is the only campus raising resident tuition — a 4.6% hike next year. Out-of-state graduate students will see a 4% increase at Montana State and a 5% increase at the University of Montana. The following year, graduate students will face tuition increases from 3% to 5%.
Buchanan was the only regent to vote in opposition of the biennium tuition hikes.