The Oregon State University Budget Committee, which includes student representatives, considers a number of factors in its tuition and fee recommendations for the university’s Board of Trustees to consider each year. These include:

  • Affordability for all students
  • Access to a high-quality education
  • Undergraduate financial aid need and allocations to assist students with highest need
  • Projected cost and revenue changes for FY18, including projections for flat state funding in the 2017-19 biennium, important strategic commitments, and existing commitments
  • Fall 2016 enrollments and enrollment targets for Fall 2017
  • Comparisons of tuition rates with peer universities
  • Impact of tuition increases on enrollment for undergraduate students
  • Any constraints from the Legislature on setting tuition and mandatory fees

The preferred recommendation from the Budget Committee for the Corvallis campus is a 4 percent increase for resident undergraduates and a 2 percent increase for non-resident undergraduates. However, because committee members had a range of positions on tuition, the Board of Trustees will review tuition proposals ranging from 0 to 8 percent at its March 17, 2017 meeting.

The recommendations for tuition changes can be found below (rates apply to both Corvallis and Cascades campuses unless specifically noted):

Undergraduate Tuition Category:                        Proposed Change:

Cascades resident undergraduate                            Same as Corvallis increase up to 6%

Cascades non-resident undergraduate                     1.99% or $12/SCH

Honors College  differential tuition                           $69 per term (to total of $500 per term)

Other per credit differential charges[1]                    No increase

Ecampus undergraduate                                         Same as resident Corvallis increase up to 5%

Corvallis summer undergraduate                             Same as resident Corvallis increase

Cascades summer undergraduate                            Same as resident Corvallis increase up to 6%                

Graduate Tuition Category:                       Proposed Change:

Resident graduate                                        1.56% or $7/SCH

Non-resident graduate                                  4.46% or $36/SCH

Doctor of Pharmacy                                      3.0% (all terms including summer)     

Doctor of Veterinary Medicine                        3.0% (all terms including summer)

MBA[2]                                                        to per credit hour pricing from plateau pricing

Cascades MS in Counseling3                          to per credit hour pricing from plateau pricing

Cascades MAT3                                             to per credit hour pricing from plateau pricing

Cascades MFA3                                             to per credit hour pricing from plateau pricing

Other per credit differential charges                No increase

Graduate Ecampus                                        1.59% or $7/SCH

Graduate summer                                         1.56% or $7/SCH

Mandatory Enrollment Fees:                     Proposed Change:        

Corvallis, academic year                               4.29% or $23.59 per term

Cascades, academic year                              49.5% or $97 per term

Corvallis, summer                                        2.96% or $11.75 per term

Cascades, summer                                       0.0% or $0 per term


[1] Charges for per credit hour differential tuition are added to base tuition rates.  Students in a program like Engineering, which has a $51/SCH differential tuition for professional students, will see an increase in their tuition rates because of the increase in base tuition, even though the differential charge will not increase.

[2] These are professional degrees.  Proposed changes are made after consideration of local expense escalation and national norms for similar professional schools.

Review the full document.