Rutgers Approves Tuition Hike For 2017-2018 School Year

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — On Wednesday afternoon, the Board of Governors at Rutgers University approved a tuition and fee increase for the upcoming 2017-2018 academic year. The Board approved a 1.85 percent tuition hike for in-state New Jersey students at Rutgers next year.

As a result of today’s action, a typical in-state, full-time Arts and Sciences undergraduate at Rutgers University-New Brunswick will be billed $14,638 in combined tuition and mandatory student fees in 2017-2018, an increase of 1.85 percent. This year, that number was $14,372, so it's a $266 increase.

For such a student living on campus, total charges (tuition, fees, room and board) will increase to $27,090, up 1.7 percent from this year.

The Board of Governors has approved tuition hikes at Rutgers every year for the past five years, but this increase is actually the lowest its been in five years.

The increase in 2015 was 1.93 percent for an Arts & Sciences student living on the New Brunswick campus. In 2014, the increase for the same student was 2.4 percent. In 2013, it was 2.2 percent.

“Public colleges and universities across the country are facing significant financial challenges,” said Rutgers University President Robert Barchi. “I am proud that Rutgers has been able to keep these cost increases to a minimum while continuing its commitment to teaching, research and service.”

Its mostly the costs of paying its professors that drive up the tuition costs, Rutgers said. Tuition increases at Rutgers are driven by primarily personnel salaries, and moderated by any increased appropriations in the annual state budget in Trenton, the school said.

The tuition hike comes as the Board approved a $4.39 billion total budget for the 2017-2018 school year.

Rates will increase by similar percentages for typical Arts and Sciences undergraduates at Rutgers University-Camden, to $14,501 for tuition and fees and, for those living on campus, to $26,594 for total charges, and at Rutgers University-Newark, to $14,085 and $27,349.

Specific tuition, fee, room and board charges at Rutgers vary across the university’s colleges and schools. While the 1.85 percent increase is for most undergraduates at Rutgers, in many cases, individual student costs are reduced by federal, state or institutional financial aid.

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