Arkansas State University OKs flat tuition, fee raises

JONESBORO — Arkansas State University has become the last public university in the state to approve a plan to keep tuition flat while increasing fees.

The university system’s board of trustees announced on Thursday it won’t increase tuition to in-state students this fall but will raise $1.3 million

in new mandatory student fees. The board also favored raising tuition for out-of-state and international undergraduate students.

Students enrolling at the university in Jonesboro will pay an average of $130 more this fall than last year, or a more than 1.5 percent increase in overall costs, said system President Charles Welch. The fee increases will mainly fund campus security and teacher raises.

“These are recommendations made by students,” he said of the security requests, some of which were made in light of a state law now allowing people with a special license to carry a concealed handgun on campus.

The $8,608 for fall tuition and fees at the university for in-state students ranks the school as the sixth most expensive among the state’s four-year institutions. The Jonesboro university is the second largest in the state, with enrollment just below 14,000 last fall, according to the state Department of Higher Education.

The approval follows a recommendation in January by Gov. Asa Hutchinson to freeze in-state tuition at public universities for the 2018-19 school year. Lawmakers approved an additional $10 million in funding for state colleges and universities, which will be distributed based on a productivity funding formula.