Earlier in the week I wrote an article about how Michigan State University was adopting a tuition freeze yet implementing an increase in the cost of room and board for students attending next year. I am not sure if it is in direct response to MSU but recently Eastern Michigan University has stated that it is not going to raise tuition for the upcoming academic year AND they are also going to maintain the same fees for room and board costs!
As an outsider (not residing in the state of Michigan), it appears that all the Michigan colleges and universities are digging deep to compete with each other to attract and retain quality college students. Their efforts are driven by an uncertain state budget outlook for the coming year. However, the true winner in this situation will be the students attending these schools.
Eastern Michigan University (EMU) is marketing their no increase program as “0-0-0” (meaning zero tuition increases, zero room rate increases, and zero board plan rate increases). It is apparently creating quite a buzz with incoming and returning students alike. Some students stated that they were entertaining the option of transferring somewhere cheaper but now they have decided to stay for another year. Below is an example of their marketing campaign:
Tuition and Mandatory fees for the 2010-2011 academic year at EMU are as follows:
|
Course Level
|
Resident
Tuition |
Non-Resident
Tuition |
General
Fee |
Technology
Fee |
Student
Union Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Up to 499
|
$238.25 |
$701.75
|
$23.50
|
$11.15
|
$3.35
|
|
500 – 699
|
$416.75
|
$821.50
|
$23.50
|
$11.15
|
$3.35
|
|
700 and Above
|
$479.50
|
$926.00
|
$23.50
|
$11.15
|
$3.35
|
Additional fee information for Eastern Michigan University can be found here.
Higher education has always been a competitive market but it certainly looks like a great time to be a student in the state of Michigan!
To clarify, Eastern Michigan’s “0,0,0” plan to freeze tuition, room and board rates was not influenced by other institutions. This was enacted primarily to address the challenging economic environment facing students and families in Michigan. It also continues the trend we established last year when Eastern had the lowest tuition increase among Michigan public universities.
Walter Kraft
Vice President for Communications
Eastern Michigan University
Walter,
Thank you for the clarification. I assumed your position on no fee increases came about independently and was not based on the actions of your peer institutions. However, it does help to separate EMU from the pack and maintain your “lowest in the state” motto.
Doug