State Board of Education Sets Tuition and Fees
The Idaho State Board of Education has set and approved higher education tuition and fees for the 2007-2008 academic year. Fees for the individual colleges and universities are as follows, with the amount of increase over fiscal year 2007, as it applies to full-time, Idaho resident undergraduates.
Boise State University: $4,410 or a 6.16 percent increase
University of Idaho: $4,410 or a 5.0 percent increase
Idaho State University: $4,400 or a 5.01 percent increase
Lewis Clark State College: $4,092 or a 5.00 percent increase
Eastern Idaho Technical College: $1,634 or a 3.5 percent
increase
Initially, each with the support of its respective student governments, Boise State had asked for an 8.09 percent increase, the University of Idaho a 5.95 percent increase and Idaho State University for a 5.49 percent increase. Lewis Clark State College requested a 5 percent increase and Eastern Idaho Technical College a 3.5 percent increase, both of which they were granted.
Idaho colleges remain a good buy. The modest increases come at a time when Idaho ranks 13th among the 15 western states in the amount it charges students to go to college, according to the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education. Boise State ranks 13th among its 17 peer institutions for resident undergraduate tuition and fee costs.
Boise State’s proposed fee increase was predicted on its recent growth – a 16.5 percent increase in overall headcount since 2000 – and the subsequent need to hire more faculty and staff and create additional space and academic programs. The FY07 tuition increase had allowed Boise State to hire 15 new faculty, convert many temporary adjunct faculty to permanent special lecturers, increase the number of graduate assistantships and increase the library acquisitions budget.
The asked-for $168 or 8.09 percent full-time per semester increase for FY08 had been based on $85 for tuition (4.09 percent), $65 for a strategic facilities fee (3.10 percent), $5 for technology fee (.25 percent), $10 for SUB operations (.50 percent) and $3 for Student Health Wellness and Counseling Center operations (.12 percent).
Boise State helps students afford the tuition and fee increases by monitoring student aid opportunities and striving to create new ones. Currently, about 45 percent of the students receive financial aid. Of the degree-seeking undergraduates who apply for financial aid annually, about 75 percent of them receive aid. Merit and need-based scholarships also help students seeking financial assistance. Boise State distributes about $2.5 million annually in scholarships – and increase of 12 percent over the past three years.