Wright State raises tuition 3.5 percent

FAIRBORN — Wright State University will raise undergraduate tuition by 3.5 percent, the maximum increase allowed by Ohio legislators under the two-year state budget signed this month by Gov. Ted Strickland.

Wright State’s board of trustees on Tuesday, July 28, approved the 2009-2010 university budget and the tuition increase.

Undergraduate students will pay $85 more a quarter to $2,511 per quarter for full-time students, according to university officials. The increase is effective this fall quarter.

Tuition will increase 4 percent for most graduate and professional programs, and 5 percent for medical school.

Residence fees will increase from 2 to 4 percent. Basic food plan cost will increase 3 percent or $27 per quarter. Uniform course and program fees are unchanged.

Wright State is cutting departmental budgets by $11.7 million and will use that money to make up for the loss of state funds.

The university also plans to reduce its budget through employee attrition and a one-time voluntary separation program for faculty and staff. More than 700 employees are eligible for the buyouts, which were announced in May. Wright State has 3,095 employees, including full-time and part-time faculty, staff and adjuncts.

Wright State this year will pay the difference for students who had been notified that they would receive need-based Ohio Opportunity Grants, which were eliminated from the state budget.

The state budget removed a tuition freeze first instituted in 2006 at public colleges, and caps increases at 3.5 percent a year. The freeze had been scheduled to run through fiscal year 2009-2010.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2419 or dlarsen@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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