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OSU Will Freeze Tuition For Current Undergrads

Oregon State University

Many Oregon State University undergraduate students who return to campus next fall will not face an increase in tuition.

With so many uncertainties swirling through higher education as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, OSU’s Board of Trustees decided to offer a least one bit of predictability: In-state students who re-enroll will pay the same tuition as they did this school year.

It’s a nod to the upheaval caused by COVID-19, said Sherm Bloomer, the school’s Associate VP of Budget and Resource Planning. He gave the rationale for the tuition freeze during a meeting held via video-conferencing.

“A tuition increase for those continuing students could communicate to them that we don’t recognize that changed experience, we don’t recognize those challenges we face, and could cause some of them to choose not to come back to OSU,” he said.

New students and those from out-of-state will see a three-point-two percent increase. The board voted 11-to-3 to approve the plan, with some dissenters saying there are too many questions about how the pandemic will affect the school’s financial outlook.

Some OSU students wanted the school to take an even more dramatic step. According to the Daily Barometer, more than 15,000 people signed a petition asking the Board of Trustees to lower tuition, since students aren’t receiving the method of education they signed up for.

But Bloomer said “remote learning” is just as costly for the school to administer as traditional classroom settings.

“We can’t introduce a lower remote-deliver tuition rate if we’re still going to keep those faculty and those staff and those programs all available to our students, all helping our students make progress toward a degree,” he said.

Bloomer said some savings are being realized due to buildings being largely closed, but those are offset by higher technology costs. The school is also taking a $20 million hit in residential fees this semester, as well as an expected $6 million decline in athletic revenues.

Chris Lehman has been reporting on Oregon issues since 2006. He joined the KLCC news department in December 2018 and became News Director in March 2023. Chris was born and raised in Pennsylvania, and graduated from Temple University with a degree in journalism. His public broadcasting career includes stops in Louisiana and Illinois. Chris has filed for national programs including “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered.”
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