The EIU Student Senate reviewed resolutions recommending a proposed tuition increase for the 2026 fiscal year at its meeting on Wednesday.

The increase would be 2.5% for undergraduate tuition and 2.90% for graduate tuition. Fees would stay the same.

For undergraduates, the increase would put tuition at $356.34 per credit hour for in-state students and $445.43 per credit hour for out-of-state students.

Graduates would pay $363.98 per credit hour if they are in-state, and out-of-state graduates would pay $873.55 per credit hour.

The changes would not impact the tuition of current Illinois resident undergraduate students due to the “Trust-in-Tuition Law,” which locks in a student’s tuition all four years.

Out-of-state students and all graduate students would see the increase.

The increase would be typical of the last few years, with an increase last year of 2.75% and an increase of 2.5% in the 2024 fiscal year.

“This increase reflects some of what we need [financially],” Vice President for Business Affairs Matt Bierman said.

Bierman said the increase is not too large due to the university wanting to stay competitive with pricing.

Speaker of the Senate Megan Fox liked that the raise wasn’t too high.

“I think this is great that we are keeping tuition costs low,” Fox said.

Total on-campus program fees will stay at $140.80 per credit hour due to rates going up last year, according to Bierman.

The largest fee within the on-campus program category is the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union fee at $24.95 per credit hour. The fee goes to the upkeep of the union.

Grant-in-aid fees total $22.37 per credit hour. This fee covers grants for athletics, social and economic development strategies and general grants.

“That fee funds specific talents at the university,” Bierman said. “All the money that is collected in the grant-in-aid is then distributed to students.”

$18.00 per credit hour is allocated for the intercollegiate athletic fee, which helps fund athletic programs.

The campus improvement fee is responsible for helping to support campus construction and is $16.06 per credit hour.

$12.90 per credit hour is allocated for the health services and counseling fee which helps fund the health center and counseling office.

The Lantz-O’Brien fee pays for upkeep to those facilities and is $11.75 per credit hour.

The information technology fee is $10.15 per credit hour for on-campus programs and $6 per credit hour for off-campus programs. This fee helps to fund hardware and software on campus.

The textbook rental fee is $8.75 per credit hour for both on-campus and off-campus programs. This helps to fund textbook rental services.

The student recreation fee helps fund the Student Recreation Center and is $8.66 per credit hour for on-campus programs.

The student activity fee, which covers organizations involved in student programing, is $4.55 per credit hour.

$1.20 per credit hour is allocated for the Shuttle Bus fee, which helps pay for the shuttle vehicles.

The student publications fee, which funds The Daily Eastern News and The Vehicle literary magazine, is $1.00 per credit hour.

The student legal service fee is 47 cents per credit hour. This fee helps pay a part-time attorney for students.

Fees for off-campus programs like online degrees total $94.75 per credit hour.

The extended learning fee, which Bierman said covers all that is needed to support off-campus education, is $74.00 per credit hour.

The resolutions recommending the tuition increase were tabled until the next meeting.

The career services budget from last meeting was approved by the Student Senate, and the fraternity and sorority life office budget was tabled until next week to allow for further clarification on the use of the budget items.

Jason Coulombe can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].