Students attending Christopher Newport University next year will pay more in tuition, room and board and other fees after the Board of Visitors approved rates for the 2017-18 school year during a meeting Friday afternoon.
The total costs for in-state students will come in at $24,878, a 3.8 percent, or $910, increase over the current year. Students who come from out-of-state will pay $37,074, which is $1,480, or 4.16 percent, more than this year.
“I think the board communicated the desire to hold the line as best we can, relative to tuition, while meeting the primary goal of this university, and that is quality education. … It’s a good move,” said Newport News Sheriff Gabe Morgan, a member of the board who sits on the finance and audit committee. “It’s a delicate balance of everything we had facing us. I would just say that I would hope that everyone understands that this was not something that we just did willy-nilly.”
According to the resolution, CNU’s total cost for in-state students is fourth among all Virginia four-year public institutions, behind the College of William and Mary, Virginia Military Institute and the University of Virginia. Total out-of-state costs rank 12th in the state.
Last year, the board approved 3.58 percent increases for total in-state student costs and 3.36 percent increases for those coming from out-of-state.
Tuition will go up $400 for in-state students taking between 12 and 17 credit hours and $970 for full-time out-of-state students. Those increases are projected to generate $2.16 million in revenue.
According to the board, $221,900 of that additional revenue will go toward offsetting cuts the state made in the amount it provides the university. Another $474,900 will help fund CNU’s share of a 3 percent raise for faculty and staff.
Four new full-time faculty positions will use $337,600 generated by the increase. That will bring the university to 280 full-time faculty, 20 shy of the ultimate goal of 300. Other items funded by the increase include scholarships, maintenance and equipment replacement, undergraduate research efforts and other support items.
Students’ comprehensive fees, which support auxiliary services, will rise to $5,384. The $200 increase will raise about $1 million, which will mostly go toward the 3 percent staff raises and costs of operating the university’s new Gregory P. Klich Alumni House, which opened in February.
Fees for individual rooms will increase between $140 and $240, depending on the type of housing. Costs for board will go up $170.
The $1.2 million that should be raised by those increases will go toward debt service for the Regattas dining hall expansion, which should be open later this year, as well as the Shenandoah River Hall, which is slated to begin construction in March 2018, among other items.
Hammond can be reached by phone at 757-247-4951.
