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Tuition Information
Defining Tuition
Tuition is the amount of money that a student is charged by the University for instruction. Tuition costs are charged on a per credit hour basis. Furthermore, courses in some colleges have supplemental fees attached to them. Examples include courses in the College of Business, College of Engineering and School of Journalism. Tuition does not cover textbooks or related school supplies nor does it cover meal plans and residence hall fees which also appear in your monthly billing statements. It does not include mandatory charges for miscellaneous items such as the Student Health Center fee, Student Recreation Center fee, Student Activity fee and the Integrated Technology fee.
History of Tuition
Tuition levels at public universities across the country have increased significantly in recent years as the cost of education is increasingly being borne by students and not the state. Missouri is no exception. Prior to the 2007-08 school year, the Board of Curators for the University of Missouri System established tuition levels without any governmental intervention. However, in response to concerns regarding the rising cost of higher education, the Missouri General Assembly passed Senate Bill 389 which limits the increase in tuition for undergraduate resident students to the CPI of the previous calendar year. In order to exceed that limitation, the university must appeal to the Coordinating Board of Higher Education.
Funding for the University of Missouri
MU’s total budget is approximately $1.1 billion which includes gifts grants and enterprise operations like residential life, dining services, student health, athletics and the bookstore. These enterprise operations must fund themselves and do not receive any tuition or state funding. Of the $1.1B total budget, the “operations fund” comprised about half of the total budget. Tuition is the largest part of the operating budget comprising 45% while state funding comprises only 35%. Until 2004, state funding was the larger component of the operating budget but state budget cuts in the early 2000’s necessitated larger than normal tuition increases so that tuition is now a significantly larger source of the operating fund than state appropriations. Salaries and benefits are the largest expense in the operating fund accounting for 73% of the total expenses. The other 27% is classified as “non-payroll expenses” and includes travel, supplies, equipment, and scholarships.
The Role of State Support
The University takes into account projected changes in state funding when determining tuition adjustments for succeeding years. While state appropriations are a significant amount of funding, it is becoming a smaller piece of the operating fund “pie.” According to the Grapevine Report published by Illinois State University, Missouri ranks 47th in appropriations per capita for fiscal year 2008. Additionally, the report noted that the five year percentage increase in Missouri tax appropriations to higher education was 6.8% (FY03 to FY08) which ranks 46th among the 50 states. Although state funding has recently improved appropriations have yet to return to FY01 levels.
Financial Aid
From FY04 to FY07 MU increased Financial Aid expenses from institutional sources by over 26%. This includes both merit and need based aid but does not include loans or student employment. Institutional sources means tuition, state appropriations, gifts and endowments.
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees (xls)
