University of Memphis board OKs bump in tuition and housing to boost salaries

Tuition and housing costs will increase at the University of Memphis this fall to help pay for salary increases for faculty and staff.

President David Rudd will also receive a raise, but the increase will be funded entirely by private dollars.

In its second full day of meetings as a Board of Trustees, the board approved the increases along with its nearly $500 million 2017-18 budget, and also committed to establishing a parental leave policy.

Tuition will increase 2.6 percent, well under the 4 percent permitted by the state. Mandatory fees are not increasing, so the overall increase in what a student has to pay is about 2.1 percent.

An undergraduate student taking 15 credit hours would pay a total of $9,701 in tuition and mandatory fees, an increase of $204. The increase will generate just under $4 million for the university.

“A big part of our success is managing the tuition dollars well, and I would argue not leaving too much of the burden on students,” Rudd said in a committee meeting before the final vote.

While tuition is climbing, the rate of increase has slowed in recent years. Including next year, the university will have increased tuition an average of 2.1 percent each year over a four-year period. The average for the last 15 years was an 8 percent increase.

Housing rates will also increase 5