Eastern Kentucky University is considering freezing student tuition for a year. Word of the proposal was announced in a campus-wide email Wednesday.
In his message to students and staff, EKU President Michael Benson said the school's recent pattern of annual tuition hikes of three to five percent is not sustainable given its commitment to making a higher education within reach of those who want it.
The university president said there will be increases in fixed and unavoidable costs tied to housing and meal plan contracts as well as deferred maintenance expenses.
Benson indicated a tuition freeze would result in additional belt-tightening. But, he added Eastern administrators can’t cut a way to excellence and neither should the school price itself out of reach.
Benson noted that EKU’s primary service area contains some of the most disadvantaged counties in the U.S. The president will take his recommendation to the Board of Regents next week.
