Purdue trustees endorse WL campus tuition freeze, 2.5 percent merit pay increase

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Purdue University Board of Trustees’ Finance and Executive committees, acting on behalf of the board, on Thursday (May 18) met to endorse a proposed tuition freeze for resident, nonresident and international students at the West Lafayette campus through the next two academic years, making a total of six years of no change in base tuition.

At the same time, the committees approved the proposed all-funds conceptual operating budget for fiscal year 2018, which will provide for a 2.5 percent merit pay increase for employees at West Lafayette, with 0.5 percent contingent on supporting institutional priorities. The budget also includes investments in the university’s Purdue Moves and Think Summer initiatives.

At Purdue Northwest and Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, the proposal calls for a 1.4 percent tuition increase in each year of the biennium, which is within guidelines established by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.

The tuition and fee recommendation will now go to the Executive Committee for a May 31 public hearing followed by a vote for final approval.

“Through thoughtful spending, we are investing in student affordability, and through thoughtful budgeting, we are investing in our people and teaching and research excellence,” said Purdue President Mitch Daniels. “These are messages that resonate with families and students, as evidenced by our recent projections for our incoming class. By all accounts, I’m told Purdue is really hot in Indiana right now.”

In-state applications to Purdue for the upcoming academic year were up 7 percent; the incoming class is expected to be the largest in recent years with the most Hoosier freshmen since 2008.

Daniels noted that Purdue’s in-state tuition would be more than $1,000 per year higher if the university had raised rates at the national average. Because tuition will remain flat from 2012 through 2018-19, Purdue estimates that families will have saved more than $400 million on educational expenses. Those savings have helped lead to a 30 percent decrease in student borrowing since 2012.

In keeping affordability and quality at the forefront, Purdue will continue to invest in programs aimed at improving the academic experience. For fiscal year 2018, the General Assembly appropriated $1 million in new funds for projects focused on Purdue Moves initiatives and $1.5 million in new funds for Think Summer. Over the biennium, the spending plan also calls for more than $131 million in system-wide capital expenditures for specific projects.

Under the proposal, over the 2017-19 biennium, tuition will remain flat at West Lafayette with resident students paying $10,002 annually and out-of-state students paying $28,804. International students will pay $30,804.

Undergraduates in a new data science major will be assessed the existing computer science differential fee of $1,025 per semester. In fiscal year 2019, “new to campus” students enrolled in the Honors College will be assessed a differential fee of $100 per semester.

Purdue's tuition and fees currently rank third lowest out of 13 public Big Ten universities for resident undergraduates and fourth lowest for nonresident students.

Tuition at Purdue’s regional campuses will follow the Indiana Commission for Higher Education’s recommended increase of up to 1.4 percent over the biennium. Tuition at Purdue’s regional campuses is currently assessed on a per-credit-hour basis. The budget proposal calls for establishing a “banded” tuition range of 12-18 credit hours to incentivize four-year time to degree completion, beginning in fiscal year 2019.

The regional campus annual tuition rates for resident and nonresident undergraduate students, respectively, are:

* Purdue Northwest – $7,581 and $17,128.50 in 2017-18; $7,686 and $17,367 in 2018-19.

* IPFW – $8,329.50 and $20,004 in 2017-18; $8,449.50 and $20,287.50 in 2018-19.

The all-funds conceptual operating budget for fiscal year 2018 supports educational and operating expenditures and is based on operating appropriations contained in the state’s 2017-19 biennial spending plan. The state appropriation was down overall 2.4 percent for West Lafayette to $236.2 million, up 2.9 percent for Purdue Northwest and up 0.8 percent for the Fort Wayne campus. The West Lafayette budget provides a merit salary pool of 2.5 percent, with 0.5 percent of that pool conditional upon contributions to institution-wide objectives.

Trustees endorsed the following total operating expenditures for fiscal year 2018:

* At the West Lafayette campus: $2.083 billion.

* At Purdue Northwest: $170 million.

* At Fort Wayne: $166 million.

The board’s Executive Committee will conduct a public hearing at 11 a.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, May 31, regarding the proposed tuition and fees for students attending any of the university's campuses during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 academic years. This will be a special meeting of the board’s Executive Committee in which the committee will act on behalf of the board and will vote on the fee proposal and the fiscal year 2018 system-wide conceptual budget. The meeting will be in Stewart Center, Room 326, on the West Lafayette campus.

The public will have a chance to comment during the meeting, and a videoconference connection also will allow public input from Purdue's regional campuses.

Those wishing to speak at the hearing should notify the Office of the Board of Trustees in advance at 765-494-9710 or e-mail trustees@purdue.edu. A summary of the fee proposal is available online. Each speaker will be scheduled in the order they register and allotted three minutes to make comments at the hearing, which will last 30 minutes.

Written comments also may be submitted via e-mail or sent to the Office of the Board of Trustees, Hovde Hall, 610 Purdue Mall, West Lafayette, IN 47907.

Anyone wanting to offer testimony at one of the statewide campuses should contact that campus for directions to the videoconference location. Those locations are:

* Purdue Northwest (Westville): Library Student Faculty Building (LSF), Room 002.

* Purdue Northwest (Hammond): Student Union Library Building (SULB), Room 360.

* Fort Wayne: Kettler Hall, Room 178.