HOUGHTON — Michigan Technological University is passing along an unexpected increase in state funding to students, in the form of a lower-than-originally-planned tuition increase next year.
A prelimiary 2015-16 budget approved by Michigan Tech’s Board of Trustees May 1 had included a 3.9 percent increase in tuition, based on an expectation at that time of no increase in state appropriations. The board said at the time it could revisit the issue, based on the state budget for the year.
And, the 2015-16 state budget signed by Gov. Rick Snyder Wednesday included a 1.6 percent increase in state funding for Michigan Tech. It also set a 3.2 percent tuition increase cap for resident undergraduates at all state universities.
As a result, Michigan Tech has lowered its resident undergraduate tuition increase for the 2015-16 academic year from the 3.9 voted on by the board to an average of 3.1 percent, under the 3.2 percent tuition increase 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.
A recent study released by the Brookings Institution found that the average mid-career salary of Michigan Tech graduates was $97,300, much higher than average. 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.