Room, board rates increase 3 percent
The Board of Trustees on Thursday increased room and board rates by 3 percent and off-campus program undergraduate tuition rates by 4 percent.
Central Michigan University apartments will increase their rates by 2 percent.
An anticipated decline in on-campus residents is cited as a reason behind the increase.
The number of CMU students living in the residence halls is expected to go down from 6,077 at the beginning of the fall 2009 semester to an estimated 5,900 next year.
CMU plans to reorganize the residence halls' cost structure next year in order to reduce spending.
"We're going to apply some cost-cutting measures," said David Burdette, vice president of finance and administrative services.
Among Michigan's 13 public college and universities, CMU has the fourth highest room and board rates.
University President Michael Rao said the university has ensured that the residence halls are well-run and that it must continue to do so - even if rates must increase.
"There are a lot of people who want to ensure that our students are successful in our residence halls, and we have made an effort to continue increasing our staff to accommodate students on campus," he said.
Trustee Stephanie Comai said students and their families face unprecedented pressures at the beginning of college, and it is imperative that CMU provide them with high-quality living space. Newer, premium rooms tend to be in high demand, while some rooms in older residence halls are left unfilled.
"We have some premium rooms, and those are charged premium rates, but we do have a range of choices for students," she said. "If the student would prefer a premium room but is not able to afford it, we still have a place for them and we can assure it is high quality."
For students admitted in fall 2008, room and board rates for a standard residence hall with 14 meals per week are $3,618 per semester. For premium halls, it is $4,161. For students admitted last fall, the rates are $3.834 and $4,409, respectively. The 3 percent increase will bring those rates up to $3,949 and $4,541.
In addition, tuition will increase for Prof Ed classes.
The cost of taking off-campus undergraduate classes will increase from $325 to $338 per credit hour. Graduate tuition rates will increase from $425 to $446. Merodie Hancock, vice president of Prof Ed, said CMU off-campus completion rates are high, and the rates are still comparable.
"(The University of) Phoenix is out there as everybody's competition," she said. "They have much higher tuition than we do."
Other universities with higher off-campus tuition rates than CMU include Wayne State University and Davenport University. However, CMU still has higher rates than some institutions, such as Baker College, Hancock said.
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