Tuition May Rise at Kent State Following Budget Vote

Students returning to in the fall may know within the next few days if their tuition will increase.

, Kent State's board of trustees voted to pass a temporary budget that would allow the university to continue operating if the state budget were not approved by July 1 in time for the start of the next fiscal year.

As part of that temporary budget act, the trustees authorized Kent State President Lester Lefton, Jacqueline Woods, chair of the trustee board, and Patrick Mullin, the chair of the board's finance committee, to set tuition and other student fees within the guidelines approved in the final budget bill.

Kent State spokesperson Emily Vincent said in an email Lefton, Woods and Mullin will decide if any increase in tuition or fees will take place and announce the rates for the 2011-2012 school year after the state's budget is signed into law by Ohio Gov. John Kasich

"We are expecting this will be possible before the end of the week," Vincent said.

Ohio legislators have already agreed to cap any upcoming tuition increases at 3.5 percent for public universities.

The Ohio Senate voted Tuesday to approve a $112 billion state budget, and the Ohio House voted Wednesday to send the budget — largely what was first proposed by Kasich in March — to the governor's desk. The governor is expected to sign it today.

Trustees at Ohio State University voted Friday to increase tuition there by 3.3 percent for the coming semester. Ohio University officials raised tuition by 3.5 percent on the same day.

On its website, Kent State "estimates" tuition for the 2011-2012 school year will be $9,346 for Ohio residents — a 3.5 percent increase over last year's rate — and $17,306 for non-Ohio residents. The estimated room and board costs are $8,830 for both Ohio and out-of-state residents.

The university is careful to note on its tuition page that "tuition has not been set for the 2011-2012 academic year."

Tuition for the 2010-2011 school year was $9,030 for Ohio residents with room and board at $8,376 for a standard, double-occupancy room and a full meal plan.

University officials are expecting as much as a $13 million cut in state support.

Woods said earlier this month they would announce tuition rates as soon as they could following the state budget's approval because they "want people to know what they’re going to be facing coming back."