Washington State University President Elson Floyd has unveiled a series of tuition proposals aimed at containing costs for students.
Meeting with the WSU Board of Regents in Vancouver on Friday, Floyd presented a proposal that would stabilize undergraduate tuition for the next academic year. Under the plan, any tuition increase at WSU next fall would be limited by the rate of increase in the Consumer Price Index, provided the legislature maintains or exceeds current budget levels.
His proposal will now be sent to the WSU Tuition Policy Committee for review.
The Board of Regents also heard two additional proposals offering reduced tuition to WSU students. One would extend a a flat-tuition rate equal to resident student tuition to all students exclusively enrolled in online courses through WSU’s Global Campus, regardless of where the student lives. The second proposal would lower the current summer session tuition rate. Both measures would need to be brought before the Regents again for final approval before being implemented.
Meanwhile, in a move aimed at providing some relief for WSU employees who have not seen a pay raise since 2008, Floyd also presented the Regents with a proposal to establish a pool for a one-time payment of two percent for eligible faculty and staff who earn less than $100,000 per year. The average payment is expected to be about $1,000 per employee. All monies for these payments would come from reallocated central funds.
Also on the agenda, the regents voted to move forward with the design of a new WSU Visitor Center to be located on east Main Street in Pullman.
