The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education is limiting tuition increases for undergraduate students at state universities beginning this summer.
The CPE will limit increases to 6% over the next two years for comprehensive and research universities. The council approved the cap during a meeting Friday and said in a press release that a 4% maximum increase would be allowed in any one year.
The increase cap is also being extended to schools in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. The CPE also limited tuition increases to $12 an hour for the next two years, with an $8-per-credit-hour maximum allowed in any one year.
While the ceilings represent the “sticker price” for tuition, only a small percentage of students pay the full cost because of federal, state and campus financial aid, and scholarships.
The new tuition dollars will “partially offset” a reduction of $25.6 million in state funding and an anticipated more than $40 million increase in employer-paid Kentucky Retirement System pension contributions.
According to the CPE, after factoring in tuition freezes at Eastern Kentucky University and Morehead State University next year, the adopted tuition ceilings “will result in the lowest system average rate of increase in more than a decade.”
The council approved exemptions for campuses that would be significantly impacted financially during the 2019-2020 academic year.
Campuses will submit 2018-2019 tuition proposals and fees for council review at the June 22 meeting.
