KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — The Western Michigan University Board of Trustees has approved a 4.19 percent increase in tuition for the 2016-17 school year.
That is just a hair below the 4.2 percent cap set by the legislature as part of their higher education budget, signed by the Governor on Monday.
If they went any higher than the cap, there would have been penalties assessed in future budgets.
Western is one of just six public universities in Michigan that will still be receiving less in state aid than they did the year Gov. Rick Snyder took office and slashed education funding. Snyder’s original plan was to bring all schools back above that figure this year, but the proposal fell victim to an unexpected shortfall in business revenue.
To close that gap, the legislature cut the governor’s proposed increase for higher education down from $60 million to $40 million this spring.
That means the typical full-time freshman and sophomore will pay $11,492 in tuition and fees, or about $464 more than they paid last year. President John Dunn said they now rely on student tuition to provide 71 percent of the university’s revenue.
It was also pointed out that in the intervening years, the University has cut $75 million from their budget.
Trustees also approved their budget for the next fiscal year, which begins on Friday. The $397 million spending plan represents a $9.4 million increase in expenditures, or a hike of about 2.43 percent.
The university will also receive $15 million in capital funding from the state to upgrade and expand the Aviation School in Battle Creek.
Another $500,000 in capital funding will support improvements at the university’s one-of-a-kind Michigan Geological Survey, where drilling cores and rock samples and maps from all over the state are stored and cataloged.
