University of Missouri leaders freeze tuition for next year

State residents who pay tuition at the four schools in the University of Missouri system can look forward to flat tuition rates in the coming academic year.

University curators voted Wednesday in Columbia to freeze resident tuition at current levels for the 2015 fiscal year. Most students at the state schools in Columbia, Kansas City, Rolla and St. Louis will pay $8,335 in tuition starting in the fall.

The university says it has raised tuition and fees over the past five years by an annual average of 2.2 percent, compared to 6 percent to other public campuses in surrounding states. Those hikes came amid 34 percent enrollment growth since 2000.

Non-resident tuition will increase by 1.5 percent to 3 percent, with graduate tuition increasing by 1.5 percent.