URI set to increase tuition prices for next academic year, but at the same time promote affordability for students and families. PHOTO CREDIT: Siobhan Richards
The University of Rhode Island is expected to raise its tuition costs for the 2022-2023 school year due to inflation and the cost of on-campus renovation fees.
According to an article from the Boston Globe, the University of Rhode Island is looking at a tuition increase for both in-state and out-of-state students for the 2022-2023 school year.
Parlange announced this in an email sent out to the URI community last month.
“As part of the budget, the Board approved an increase of 2.5 percent in tuition for [the 2023 fiscal year] for both in-state and out-of-state students, a rate that will continue to promote access and affordability for our students and their families, while ensuring that the University can invest in strategic priorities and financial aid,” the email read. “In addition, the Board approved selected fee increases to support critical facilities and programming.”
Although Parlange briefly mentioned what the extra money would be going to in the email, the University realizes that students are seeking more concrete answers, Interim Provost Laura Beauvais said.
Beauvais clarified that the tuition hike will cover increases in inflation, a small increase in salaries, fee increases associated with the Mental Health and Wellness Counseling Center being built on campus and renovations being made to the Memorial Union.
Dean Libutti, the Vice Provost of URI, said that this tuition increase was proposed by the University before Marc Parlange became the new president of the University. According to him, the University looks at expenses and offsets them by raising tuition as needed.
The University is also annually funded by the state of Rhode Island, in addition to tuition, through a state allocation.
“We get a state appropriation that we take into account, that helps alleviate the cost of education,” Libutti said. “Our state appropriation for this year is $82 million. The state of Rhode Island does a lot to support us, but the reality is they’re unable to support it at the level that’s needed so we don’t have to raise tuition.”
Between the University of Vermont, the University of New Hampshire, the University of Connecticut, the University of Massachusetts, the University of Maine and URI, URI has the lowest out-of-state tuition overall and the lowest in-state tuition in the New England region besides UMaine, according to Beauvais.
Beauvais said that URI regularly compares its prices to peer institutions in New England so they can try to keep their prices lower than the rest.
“We try to keep our [tuition] increases at the lowest level possible, but as [Libutti] pointed out, our state appropriations have been relatively flat over the last year,” she said. “So we do have to have increases periodically to make sure that we’re competitive, but also affordable.”
According to her, the University submitted its budget to the state on Oct. 1, meaning it has not yet been approved, so they are not certain of the exact tuition and fees students will be paying next year.
Libutti said that this kind of information is not usually public until the spring semester, but they are working to bring it forward as soon as possible to provide flexibility to students.
“What our families often say is, try to keep as affordable as possible, let us know early what the plan is, help us understand,” Libutti said. “I think what they’re looking for is consistency.”