Michigan Tech Lowers Tuition Increase in Response to State Appropriations

The state legislature has passed a budget for the coming fiscal year, and Gov. Rick Snyder has signed it. The budget provides a 1.6 percent increase in state appropriations for Michigan Technological University and sets a 3.2 percent tuition cap for resident undergraduates at all state universities. 

A preliminary budget approved by Michigan Tech’s Board of Trustees May 1 included a 3.9 percent tuition increase, based on the expectation that the University would receive no increase in state appropriations. At that time, the Board promised to adjust the budget and tuition based on the appropriations and tuition cap set by the state. 

Keeping that promise, Michigan Tech has lowered its resident undergraduate tuition rates for the 2015-16 academic year from the 3.9 voted on by the board to an average of 3.1 percent, under the mandated 3.2 percent tuition cap. Michigan Tech has never exceeded the state’s tuition cap. Non-resident tuition increases average 3.9 percent. Graduate tuition will increase 5 percent, with a corresponding 5 percent increase in graduate assistant stipends.

“We are pleased that the State of Michigan recognizes the economic value that universities like Michigan Tech bring to the state by increasing our appropriations,” said Michigan Tech President Glenn Mroz.

A recent study released by the Brookings Institution found that mid-career was $97,300, much higher than predicted. The study found Michigan Tech’s value-added score to be the best in the state and in the top 10 of all colleges in the nation. Mroz continued, “And because we want to ensure that we return that value to the state and to our students, we are not willing to compromise the quality of the Michigan Tech educational experience.”

Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to nearly 7,500 students from more than 60 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan’s flagship technological university offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.