Rutgers announces 2.9% tuition increase for 2019-2020

At the Rutgers Board of Governors meeting this week at Winants Hall on the College Avenue campus, a 2.9% increase in undergraduate tuition and fees was approved for the upcoming academic year. The increase is slightly higher than the University's five-year average annual tuition increase of 2.1%. 

In-state students will be charged $15,407 in combined tuition and student fees for the 2019-2020 school year. And if in-state students are living on campus, the total bill would increase to $28,482, according to the press release. 

The release stated that the increase is “lower than 2019-2020 increases at several institutions in neighboring states Pennsylvania, New York and Delaware, where tuition will rise between 3% and 5%.” Yet Pennsylvania State University has announced they will freeze tuition for in-state students, according to Penn Live Advance Media. 

“No change from what was approved today,” said Dory Devlin, senior director of University News and Media Relations, to The Daily Targum in an email on the Pennsylvania State University tuition freeze. 

During the meeting, it was noted that 65% of the University’s $4.6 billion budget goes toward employee costs, according to the release. Rutgers has agreed to several union contracts that guarantee 3% raises for the fiscal year 2020. 

“We know tuition increases are difficult for our students, and we have worked hard again this year to keep them to a minimum as we face rising expenditures,” said Mark Angelson, chair of the Board of Governors, according to the release. “This increase allows us to maintain our top academic programs and provide access to the highest quality education for all of our students. In fact, for many of our students with the greatest financial need, the cost of tuition will continue to be zero.”

Even though tuition is increasing, 80% of Rutgers students’ individual student costs are reduced by federal, state, private or institutional financial aid, including need and merit-based grants and scholarships, federal work-study opportunities and student loans, according to the release. 

“This budget allows Rutgers to remain among the nation’s best public research universities and maintain the quality of our current academic programs, research, resources and services,” said University President Robert L. Barchi. “At Rutgers, we are striving to meet the significant financial challenges all public colleges and universities face nationwide while keeping tuition and fee increases as low as possible for our students.”