KU tuition remains affordable; 3,900 initially to receive new KU tuition grants

LAWRENCE -- University of Kansas officials say KU will remain one of the nation's top bargains in higher education despite the tuition increase approved today by the Kansas Board of Regents.

"Even with the increase, tuition at KU will be considerably less than tuition this fall at comparable universities in the region and nation," said David Shulenburger, KU provost and executive vice chancellor. "We believe the $2.2 million in tuition grants we are awarding for this fall will go a long way toward ensuring that a KU education will remain affordable."

With the new rates, KU resident annual tuition and fees will still be $1,798 below tuition and fees at the University of Missouri, $707 below the University of Iowa and $611 below the University of Nebraska.

KU tuition and fees per semester as of fall 2002 (and the increase over fall 2001 rates):

 • Kansas resident undergraduates: $1,741.75 ($300), based on 15 hours
 • Nonresident undergraduates: $5,343.25 ($438), based on 15 hours
 • Resident graduate students: $1,894.90 ($258.60), based on 12 hours
 • Nonresident graduate students: $4,944.10 ($375.60), based on 12 hours
 • Resident medical students: $6,447 ($992)
 • Nonresident medical students: $13,638 ($1,077)

For the first time, a KU tuition increase has included a substantial increase in financial aid. Officials have projected that the tuition grants will be $1.7 million on the Lawrence campus and $500,000 at the KU School of Medicine. The KU tuition grants are on top of the approximate $128 million in student financial aid and scholarships provided to KU students each year from all sources -- federal, state, KU Endowment Association and other sources.

Financial aid officials will be awarding the new tuition grants based on additional unmet need created by the tuition increase, said Brenda Maigaard, director of student financial aid at the Lawrence campus.

"My office has been working diligently to determine each student's eligibility for the tuition grant," Maigaard said. "We will be working through the weekend on final determinations. Eligible students will receive a revised award letter, which will be mailed on Wednesday, July 3."

An estimated 3,900 students will receive KU tuition grants initially. Subsequent awards will be made as additional financial aid applications are received, until the full $2.2 million is expended.

KU is a perennial pick in the Fiske Guide to Colleges, Barron's Best Buys in College Education and other college guide selections of the nation's best buys for the quality of education. In 2001, KU tuition was the 44th lowest of the nation's 50 state flagship universities.