WSU tuition could again rise 3%

Washington State University is considering increasing tuition by 3% for the next academic year.

This would be the second consecutive year the institution has raised rates by the maximum amount allowed by the state.

The WSU Board of Regents started a two-day meeting in Pullman Thursday. Officials covered many topics, most importantly tuition and enrollment.

No action was taken on tuition, the informational item instead serving as an opportunity for discussion.

The university asked regents to continue raising tuition for in-state students by 3% for the 2025-26 academic year. If approved, resident undergraduate tuition would increase by $339 to $11,644 for the year.

Leslie Brunelli, executive vice president for finance and administration, said the institution will bring forward new rates for other students later this fall.

Chris Jones, assistant vice president for budget and planning, said the increase would generate $3 million in revenue. Without the adjustment, he said tuition revenue would be projected to decrease $3.2 million.

This is partly due to WSU’s decline in enrollment. Saichi Oba, vice provost for enrollment management, said overall enrollment has declined 3% or 805 students since last fall. The university’s Pullman student population is down by 3.5% or 500 students compared to a year ago.

The drop in enrollment has been a continuing trend for four years. According to past Moscow-Pullman Daily News reporting, WSU’s system wide enrollment peaked at 31,600 students in 2019 and the numbers have consistently declined since then.

Oba said this situation is not unique to WSU; statewide enrollment in public baccalaureate institutions is down 6.2% since 2020.

Brunelli said undergraduate tuition has steadily increased since 2017. The last time tuition decreased, she said, was about a decade ago when the Washington Legislature cut rates by 15% and provided state funding to make up the difference. Documents show tuition reached its lowest at $9,300 within the 10-year period.

She added that while the university is asking for the maximum increase again, it’s been below the cap for several years. The institution requested adjustments below the highest amount in academic years 2023-24, 2021-22 and 2018-19.

“We are very thoughtful about affordability,” Brunelli said. “We don’t take this lightly, bringing up student’s tuition.”

Regents also discussed tuition affordability for resident undergraduate students.

Oba said in-state undergraduate tuition is only $483 more today than it was 10 years ago, or 4% more.

He added that more resident undergraduate students are graduating without student loan debt, which has increased from 39.6% in 2014 to 51.3% in 2023.

Officials noted WSU has the highest tuition and fees among other public higher education institutions in Washington. Brunelli said WSU’s tuition and fees total is around $13,400 which is slightly more than University of Washington’s at about $13,000 for this academic year.

Regents will decide next year’s tuition during a meeting in January.

Pearce can be reached at epearce@dnews.com.