Both in-state and out-of-state students at the University of Rhode Island would see a 3.5% tuition increase in the 2025-2026 academic year under a proposal that saw unanimous first passage at a Monday meeting of the university’s Board of Trustees Finance and Facilities Committee.
The trustees also OK’d a 0.7% increase to mandatory fees, a 2% increase in housing and a 4.7% increase in dining costs used for student meal plans. The proposal now heads to the full Board of Trustees, which is scheduled to meet next on Feb.13.
The increase is less than what was approved last February for the 2024-2025 academic year. Trustee Michael D. Fascitelli wondered if the increase in mandatory fees was enough to keep up with inflation.
“Why wouldn’t we raise it more?” Fascitelli asked Abby Benson, vice president for administration and finance, during her presentation on the proposed tuition and fee increases. The fitness center fees would go up from $6 to $116, and the student union fee would rise from $10 to $474, under the new proposal. Total mandatory fees are expected to cost $2,328 in the 2025-2026 academic year, compared to $2,312 this year.
“If you think inflation’s 3(%)…we’re raising less than 3%, we’re behind in terms of inflation,” Fascitelli said.
“We look at the total cost of attendance,” Benson replied. “Our families are gonna pay a bill and it’s gonna have tuition and housing and dining if they’re on campus. That overall number to them is what we care about. It’s what helps them with affordability.”
“I understand your point, and I think that could be part of the conversation of what we try to do with tuition, but for fees, we really try to restrict them to what the actual need will be,” Benson continued.
This year’s tuition discussion took place entirely in open session, and trustees approved the tuition hike as originally presented in an agenda enclosure by Benson.
During an executive session of the same subcommittee last year, trustees ultimately boosted the tuition hike beyond the 3.5% initially proposed by the school: 3.6% for in-state and 3.9% for out-of-state students for the 2024-2025 academic year. Students also saw a heftier increase of 0.9% in fees for services like the fitness center and student union.
2024-2025 school year tuition costs break down as follows, according to the school’s website:
- Rhode Islanders pay $14,630 for tuition and $2,312 in mandatory fees, for a base cost of $16,942, without housing or meals factored in.
- Out-of-state students pay $34,834 for tuition and $2,312 in mandatory fees, for a base cost of $37,146, without adding in housing or meals.
Students from New England states enrolled in certain majors are eligible for discounted out-of-state tuition via a New England Board of Higher Education program.
The 3.5% proposal approved tentatively on Monday is more than the 3% tuition increase the school used in its fiscal 2026 budget request to Gov. Dan McKee last September. Benson noted in her presentation that data suggests year-over-year increases higher than 4% tend to result in enrollment decreases of 1% to 2%.
Proposed increases to dining and housing costs this year, Benson said, were made to accommodate the rising costs of goods.
“We continue to see dramatic increases in food prices. I’m sure a lot of you are seeing that on your own grocery bill,” Benson told trustees.
According to Benson’s presentation, a dining unlimited standard plan would cost $5,600, up from $5,350 last year.
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
