Tuition at the University of Southern Indiana may increase in each of the next two school years, if approved by the university's board of trustees.
USI officials will hold a public forum on the proposed tuition hikes and mandatory fees for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 academic years. The public hearing is 1:30 p.m. June 7 in the Griffin Center on the USI campus.
USI officials propose tuition for a full-time, in-state, undergraduate student be $7,460 in 2017-18, an increase of about $355. In 2018-19, tuition is proposed at $7,829, an increase of around $369.
The tuition hike includes a technology fee increases of $2.50 per credit hour in 2017-18 and in 2018-19, according to officials.
Per Indiana law, state universities must set tuition and student fees for a two-year period after the state’s biennial budget is adopted. State law also requires a public hearing before proposed rate increases are adopted.
Increased student fees, which were not disclosed, are expected to "meet ongoing operational expenses," according to a news release.
Tuition fees also increased the past two school years.
Last year, tuition was $7,105 for a full-time, in-state undergraduate student. That was an increase of about $207 over tuition costs of $6,898 in 2015-16. That fee was an increase of $201 over the previous year.
Those increases were approved to support ongoing operational expenses and growth, according to officials.
Another increase last school year included the student activity fee, which doubled, to $100 for the 2016-17 year. That fee hadn't increased from $50 since 2012.
University officials said USI's Student Government Association asked for the additional funding to create more activities on campus, which included travel grants.
Miscellaneous fees are not mandatory for all students. It depends what courses and activities students are involved in as to what they may get charged.