SPEARFISH, S.D. (AP) — Tuition and fees at South Dakota’s six public universities will increase by an average of 2.9 percent for the upcoming school year under a plan the Board of Regents approved Thursday.
The decision by the board, which oversees the state’s public universities, means the average cost of tuition and fees at a South Dakota public university for undergraduate resident students next school year will be $8,555.32, up from $8,317.50.
Health insurance increases for state employees and inflation made up 0.5 percent of the tuition hike, while student-driven programming requests on campus accounted for the rest of the increase.
“Student activities have a direct impact on the quality of the higher education experience and improve student retention,” Mike Rush, the board’s executive director and CEO, said in a statement.
Regents President Randy Schaefer said officials requested additional state funds to buy down tuition in the regents’ budget request, but state revenue wasn’t available to make it happen for the coming year.
Tuition rates were held flat for the 2016-2017 academic year after Gov. Dennis Daugaard and the Legislature funded a tuition freeze for resident university students.
Lawmakers this session dealt with lower-than-expected state revenues that resulted in budget cuts for the universities.
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