On April 3rd CNU’s Board of Visitors held a public comment session about the proposed Tuition and Fees increase for the 2024-2025 school year. The Board of Visitors sets the Tuition and Fees and will meet at later board meetings to finalize any increases that might happen. There were no public comments at the session.

CNU’s funds come from General Funds (GF), which come from state tax dollars, and Non-General Funds (NGF), which come from Tuition, Fees, Room and Board, grants, and more. Tuition and Fees which file under NGF make up the most revenue for CNU, as it contributes approximately 62.1% to the budget or about $116,487,421 out of the $187,765,998 to run CNU. 

For the school years 2019-2020, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022 Tuition and Mandatory Education and General  Fees (E&G) stayed flat at $9,100 and in 2022-2023 it was raised to $9,375, however, students were given a $275 rebate which meant they only paid $9,100 again. For the 2023-2024 school year Tuition and E&G Fees were raised to $10,001. 

The Comprehensive Fee was steady from the school years 2019-2020, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022 at $5,824 and in the 2022-2023 school year was raised to $6,050. For the 2023-2024 school year year the Comprehensive Fee was raised to $6,350.

However this year students could see a rise in Tuition as high as another $490 (5%) and an increase in a Composition Fee as high as $191 (3%). This would total to a max of $681 increase and an overall increase in Tuition and Fees to $17,032 from the previous year of $16,351. 

The net revenue from an increase of 5% in Tuition could net CNU as much as an additional $1.9 million in revenue. A 3% increase in Tuition would net CNU an additional $1 million in revenue and a 1% increase in Tuition would net CNU a $150,000 increase in revenue. 

Factors that were cited as “cost drivers” for a Tuition and Fee increase include needing to cover their shares of 3% salary increases, a December 2023 2% raise, the state minimum wage increase, a lease payment to REF for CNU North, and more. The total amount needed for all of these E&G cost drivers was $4,805,000.

The Board of Visitors also cited some key factors for the 2024-2025 fiscal year (FY). Including being dependent on final state budget actions, a shift in projected enrollment, new buildings (CNU North & Science and Engineering Research Center,) and more. These factors could either increase or decrease how much they have to charge and change for Tuition and Fees.

Included in the report on the increase in Tuition and Fees was a recap of the Fiscal Year, and items that led to increases in cost. There were two years of a 5% state-mandated pay raise, as well as one year of a 7% increase pay raise. There temporary COVID funding finished, enrollment adjustments as CNU has had smaller Freshman classes since 2020, inflation, and more.

The image is from the PowerPoint presentation to the public. Credit to Sarah Herzong, as it is her powerpoint.