EIU Media Relations

EIU Board of Trustees Finalizes Tuition Rates for 2010-11 School Year

The Eastern Illinois University Board of Trustees approved tuition increases for the 2010-11 academic year at its meeting on Monday.

New in-state undergraduate students entering EIU in the fall will pay $254 per semester hour, and that rate will be locked in for four continuous academic years, as provided in the state "Truth in Tuition Law." Students with an average 15-hour course load will pay $3,810 in tuition per semester.

"This is Eastern Illinois University's lowest recommended tuition increase since the implementation of the guaranteed tuition program," said Dan Nadler, vice president for student affairs. "It was our goal to keep EIU an affordable institution where students can come to study, learn and earn a degree."

The locked-in per-semester-hour tuition rates for returning in-state undergraduate students are as follows (according to the year students entered EIU): 2006-07, $173.55; 2007-08, 194.40; 2008-2009, $218; and 2009-10, $239. Continuing, non-guaranteed students will pay $197 per semester hour, an increase of $14.

New out-of-state undergraduates will pay $762 in tuition per semester hour, or $11,430 for an average 15-hour course load. Locked-in per-semester-hour rates for out-of-state undergraduate students will remain unchanged for those who entered in the following years: 2006-07, $520.65; 2007-08, $583.20; 2008-2009, $654; and 2009-2010, $717. Continuing out-of-state undergraduate students will pay $590 per semester hour, an increase of $41.

Illinois graduate students will also pay $254 per semester hour, an increase of $15. Out-of-state graduate students' per-semester-hour rate will be $686.

Trustees also approved a $2.50 per-semester-hour increase in the Campus Improvement Fee, raising the cost from $12 to $14.50 for the 2010-2011 academic year. The vote also calls for additional $2.50 increases per semester hour in 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14, raising the costs to $17, $19.50 and $22, respectively. Additional resources generated from the fee will be used for renovations in labs and classrooms in the physical science and life sciences buildings and, eventually, to partially support the construction of a new science building.

Increases for the Lantz-O'Brien Operations/Bond Revenue Fee were also approved for the next four years. Students will pay an increase of 65 cents per semester hour in 2010-11, and 50 cents each in 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 for a total of $2.50, $3, $3.50 and $4, respectively. Additional fees generated from this fee will be used to replace roofs, ceilings and plumbing; repair outdoor basketball and tennis courts; improve heating, air conditioning and ventilation; renovate bathrooms; and repair Panther Trail.

Some of the areas needing repairs are original roofing and piping installed when the building was constructed in 1966, Nadler said.