Beginning this fall, undergraduates at all four University of Missouri System campuses will be charged based on their primary program of study, which will fall into predetermined tiers.
At MU, tier one programs are the least expensive and tier three programs are the most expensive.
The UM System Board of Curators unanimously approved differential tuition rates at a special meeting Thursday.
MU’s current model charges undergrads separately for tuition by the credit hour and also pay information technology fees and supplemental course fees. This made it hard for students to predict their total bill because courses had varying supplemental fees, according to board documents.
In the new model for undergrads, course fees are eliminated and tuition rates are based on the primary program of study.
There is also a plateau rate, which applies to full-time undergrads taking between 12 and 18 credit hours. MU and Missouri University of Science and Technology are applying plateau rates. The incentive behind this rate is to encourage students to take an average of 15 credit hours each semester, which helps them stay on track to graduate on time, according to board documents.
For example, undergraduates majoring in a tier one program such as history and taking between 12 and 18 credit hours will pay $6,500 a semester in tuition. Undergraduates majoring in a tier three program such as engineering and taking between 12 and 18 hours will be pay $8,300 a semester in tuition.
Mandatory fees are on top of tuition and remain consistent across majors. At MU, they go toward student health, MizzouRec and student activities.
The University of Missouri-Kansas City and the University of Missouri-St. Louis will not have the plateau rate largely because part-time students make up 45% and 66% of their populations, respectively. Students will instead be charged per credit hour, with charges still depending on their program of study.
Graduate students on all four campuses will pay under the per credit hour tiered system.
Chief Financial Officer Ryan Rapp told curators the goal of the changes has been threefold: to simplify the pricing structure to provide predictable pricing to students; to continue to improve student outcomes; and to establish prices that are reflective of the market for the degree and also the cost to deliver the specific degree.
Undergraduate students received their now-approved fall rates in the most recent round of financial aid package emails. Students can visit the Cashiers Office website to see which tier their program falls into and get their proposed total for the semester.
New curators welcomed
The curators welcomed new members Robert Blitz, Robert Fry and Jeanne Sinquefield to their first meeting after the trio received Missouri Senate approval in April.
“It is a pleasure and an honor to be working with you,” board chair Michael Williams said, “and we look forward to many many years of fun.”
During the meeting, Blitz and Sinquefield were appointed to the Academic, Student Affairs, Research and Economic Development Committee. Sinquefield was also named to the Audit, Compliance and Ethics Committee and Blitz to the Governance, Compensation and Human Resources Committee. Fry was appointed to the Finance and Health Affairs committees.