A tuition increase has been approved for Northwest Missouri State University for the 2017-18 academic year.

Thursday night the University’s Board of Regents, during its regular meeting, approved an increase of the University’s tuition in addition to a series of program-specific fees.

“What we have done, unequivocally, is fought hard through our budget process to make sure we keep education at Northwest Missouri State University accessible and affordable, while still protecting the quality,” Northwest President Dr. John Jasinski told the Board.

Northwest’s tuition for undergraduate students will increase by 2.8 percent, a sum of Consumer Price Index (CPI) rates booked for fiscal years 2017 and 2018. A CPI of 2.1 percent is being implemented for FY18, while a CPI of 0.7 percent was previously booked for FY17 but could only be implemented after state universities received a mid-year appropriations decrease in January.

Northwest is not implementing a tuition increase for graduate students.

In addition to tuition rates for 2017-2018, the Board approved a series of discipline-specific program fees to cover costs for non-standard coursework. The Board approved an increase to board rates, or meal plans, by an average of 2.6 percent, depending on the range of meal plans students select, and an increase of room rates by 1 percent.