UM Board of Curators approves another tuition increase

COLUMBIA, Mo (KMIZ)

The University of Missouri Board of Curators on Thursday decided to increase tuition rates for the fourth year in a row, according to a press release from the university.

The increases will take affect for the 2024-25 school year. Residential and nonresidential undergraduate students will see a 5% increase across all campuses. Graduate and professional students will see a 3-5% increase across all campuses, the release says.

According to a report provided by UM, the Board of Curators said these increases will go toward investing in student success, improving graduation rates and decreasing the time it takes students to graduate, improving academic resources and bringing on new faculty and advisors to better assist and equip students. 

UM System spokesman Christian Basi said inflation is the driving force of the continual increases, but not the only factor.

“The price to deliver a quality education that is expected of the University of Missouri, that’s also risen,” Basi said. 

The university claims in its report that compared to flagship universities in surrounding states (which includes the University of Tennessee, University of Iowa, University of Illinois, University of Nebraska, University of Kentucky, University of Oklahoma, University of Arkansas and MU), MU’s resources per student (described as state support and net tuition) is the lowest among those choices.

The university expects its enrollment to increase next year. The school previously said in April that it saw an increase in enrollment applications.