Frozen tuition approved for 11th and 12th consecutive years at Purdue West Lafayette

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. − Tuition changes for the Purdue Northwest and Purdue Fort Wayne campuses were approved at the June Board of Trustees meeting Friday, along with securing the 11th and 12th years of frozen tuition for Purdue's West Lafayette Campus.

On June 1, Purdue University Associate Vice President for Finance, Andrew Bean, presented proposed changes to the university's various campus locations.

While in-state tuition for West Lafayette was approved to remain frozen for the 11th and 12th years in a row, it was approved for the Professional Flight program to receive a 3% increase in both the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years.

"For the aviation program, the professional fees that are associated with that program -- the flight courses that are offered -- we do update those fees annually based on the actual cost of operating the aircraft fleet. And so those rates will increase on average 3% per year for the next two years," Bean said on June 1.

At both the Fort Wayne and Northwest campuses, a 3% tuition increase will be in place for the next two academic school years.

At Purdue Fort Wayne, its Graduate Education Programs will have a $74 fee implemented over the course of the next two years.

"This differential fee only impacts the graduate education programs," Bean said on June 1, "being the School of Education in that particular instance. This fee will be $74 once fully implemented, per credit hour. But it will be implemented over two years. So phased in (at) 50% (in) year one, and (100%) in year two."

On Purdue Northwest's campus, a new digital materials fee will be implemented in the next school year at a rate of $299. According to Bean, this is an optional fee students can opt into to receive digital course materials that would offset other costs that students have been previously incurring.

"This will provide access to course materials and other things that previously students have been securing on their own through a private vendor," Bean previously said. "Students will have the option to opt out of this fee if they (are able) to continue to secure those materials on their own. But with this fee they can gain access to all those digital materials for all their courses."

The question of how long after their courses are over will students have access to these materials was raised at Friday's Trustees meeting. To this, Bean said he would have to get back to them on.

More: Tuition hike in works for some students at Purdue campuses

Trustees also adopted the university's operating budget for the 2024 fiscal year this week, with revenues exceeding expenditures.

According to Eva Nodine, vice president/deputy chief financial officer at Purdue, the top goal of the fiscal year 2024 Purdue has is keeping student affordability at the forefront.

For the second year in a row, faculty and staff merit compensation at the West Lafayette campus will be set at 4%, plus a 1% one-time recognition, reward and retention pool.

The university also made more investments into graduate student stipends, raising the two-year combined investment to about $20 million.

More: Raise in minimum for graduate student stipends also raises concerns at Purdue

Trustees apprvoed the following total operating expenditures for fiscal year 2024:

• At the West Lafayette campus: $2.537 billion

• At Purdue Northwest: $156 million

• At Purdue Fort Wayne: $149 million

Purdue airport runway repaving

Also approved Friday was the rehabilitation of a Purdue University airport runway.

The airport has two runways, known as 5/23 and 10/28. Runway 5/23 will be repaved.

"This project will repave the smaller of our two runways at the Purdue Airport," Jay Wasson, vice president and chief public safety officer for Physical Facilities and Public Safety at Purdue, said. "Work on two connector taxiways will also be part of the project. Runway 5/23 is primarily used for student flight programs...The estimated total cost of the project is $6.8 million, just over $3.5 million of that will come through gift funds in the way of grants from the Federal Aviation Administration.

"...We anticipate construction starting in May of 2024 with construction to be complete in June (2024)."

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Tuition will remain frozen on West Lafayette's campus from 2023-25