Henderson raises in-state tuition

Henderson State University is increasing its tuition and fee rate by 2.4 percent for the 201718 school year.

As a part of that, the university’s board voted Friday to raise the tuition rate by $6 per credit hour for in-state undergraduate students to $221 per credit hour and raise one mandatory fee for athletics by 50 cents to $17.75 per credit hour. The Arkadelphia university’s president, Glen Jones, said the tuition increase is the lowest amount in more than a decade.

“Affordable tuition is an important consideration for most of the students we serve,” he said in a statement. “We are committed to providing our students value for their tuition dollars, and we are investing these funds strategically to benefit them.”

An in-state undergraduate student taking 15 credit hours is now paying $4,058 a semester in tuition and mandatory fees and will pay $4,155.50 a semester starting this fall.

The 3,565-student university is the third of the four-year public schools in the state to take up tuition and fees. Typically, universities raise tuition and fee rates by 3 percent to 5 percent year-to-year. Henderson and Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia have increased next year’s rates by less than 3 percent.

In-state undergraduate students taking 15 hours at SAU will pay 1.83 percent more at $4,173 a semester in tuition and mandatory fees in the 2017-18 school year. SAU has 4,771 students.

The University of Central Arkansas increased its rate within the standard at 3.65 percent, and in-state undergraduates taking 15 hours will pay $4,262.10 per semester.