University of Montana, Missoula College and other Montana University System colleges will see successive tuition and fee hikes in the next two years as MUS manages increasing costs mostly associated with payroll increases.
With the Montana Board of Regents biennial budget approved last week, in-state undergraduate and graduate tuition is increasing by 4% in both fiscal years 2024 and 2025. Out-of-state undergraduate and graduate tuition is increasing by 6% in both FY2024 and FY2025.
“We are trying to keep our tuition as low as possible for our in-state residents,” Montana Commissioner of Higher Education Clayton Christian said. “Four percent is the lowest we can go with in-state tuition.”
The budget comes with a 5% increase to expenditures in FY24 and a 4.4% increase in FY25. 70% of the increase will go to payroll raises originating from the MUS pay plan signed in April that outlined either $1.50-an-hour or 4% raises, whichever is greater, for this year and the next.
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According to Christian, it was one of the largest pay plans in the Western region with MUS having to increase their payroll expenses by $27 million to account for the wage increases. The rest of the budget increases are related to inflationary costs like electricity, contracts, books and other recurring expenses.
At UM, in-state fees will also increase by 9.6% for FY24 and 6.9% for FY25. Out-of-state fees will increase by 14.4% for FY24 and 11.2% for FY25.
The changes bring the cost of a semester for resident undergraduate students from $3,859 to $4,076 to $4,273. For non-resident undergraduate students, it will increase from $14,817 to $15,811 to $16,832.
MUS colleges saw increases of tuition from 3% to 5% this year, after freezing tuition for resident undergraduate students the year prior.
