Incoming students at Ohio State University will see an increase in tuition and fees this coming academic year, the school’s Board of Trustees announced on Wednesday.
The trustees voted to hike all tuition and fees by 3.3 percent. However, the board also make a corresponding increase in aid packages to offset the rise in the cost of education. This tuition rate will then be frozen for the next four years for members of the incoming class.
“We speak often of affordability, access and excellence, and we think all the time about making the university experience affordable for the citizens of Ohio,” President Michael V. Drake said.
“The value comes from the quality of the education that we provide and the quality of the opportunities that we provide, and affordability and access are important to make sure that that great value is available to our students.”
The decision was taken as a part of the Ohio State Tuition Guarantee, which sets rates for in-state tuition, mandatory fees, and housing and dining costs for each entering class of first-year Ohio resident students, and freezes those rates for four years.
In December, a report released by the Ohio chancellor of higher education found that the university spent $312.5 million providing financial aid to students, along with $25 million spent on President’s Affordability Grants for in-state students.
The report added that the university saved students $47.6 million by extending financial aid, digital learning technologies, introducing summer tuition discounts and reducing textbook costs.
Over the next three years, the university, in collaboration with Apple, is also spending more than $11.1 million to provide free digital alternatives, leading to a reduction in textbook costs.