Three percent tuition increase set for upcoming school year

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Gianluca Cuestas
BYU announced a three percent tuition increase for the 2017-2018 academic year. Forbes ranked the university as the No. 2 Best Value College in March 2016. (Gianluca Cuestas)

BYU announced a 3 percent tuition increase for undergraduate and graduate students for the 2017-18 academic year.

BYU released a statement on Oct. 11 announcing undergraduate tuition for LDS Church members will increase from $2,650 to $2,730 per semester. Tuition will go from $3,340 to $3,440 per semester for LDS graduate students. The cost will increase from $6,155 to $6,340 per semester for students at the J. Reuben Clark Law School and the Graduate School of Management.

For spring and summer terms, undergraduate tuition will go from $1,325 to $1,365. The rate for graduate students will increase by $50 to a total of $1,720.

These changes also apply to non-LDS students. The tuition rate for non-LDS undergraduate students has increased to $5,460 per semester and $6,880 per semester for non-LDS graduate students. For non-LDS law and business graduate students, the rate has increased to $12,680.

University Communications media relations manager Natalie Tripp said an increase is normal and expected every year. This tuition increase will cover the increases in other academic areas such as supplies, travel and library and laboratory materials.

Ryan Turner
Students light the Y for the 2016 Homecoming festivities. (Ryan Turner)

“Students have access to a quality education and appropriate resources that support that education,” Tripp said in an email.

Tripp said Forbes Magazine ranked BYU as the No. 2 Best Value College in March 2016, just behind the University of California, Berkeley.

“Our tuition is more affordable than most of the colleges in Utah, and that gap widens considerably when compared against schools outside of Utah,” Tripp said.

Tripp said BYU provides students with the most value for their dollar.

“We strive to be good stewards of the resources provided to BYU to give our students the tools and opportunities needed for quality learning and success,” Tripp said.

When tuition increases, Tripp said, the full- and half-tuition scholarships increase as well to cover the new tuition rate.

Dioselyn Cruz, a junior from Oakland, California, said the tuition increase didn’t really bother her. “BYU is so affordable compared to other great schools, especially being a private university,” Cruz said.

Cruz said she saw the YMessage about tuition being increased last year, but she never heard anyone complain about it. “There were more complaints when they announced a spring break of only one day, lots of students complained about that,” Cruz said.

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