Throughout its time as an institute of higher education, Weber State University has branded itself as an affordable option for higher education. With average in-state tuition being around $6,391 and being one of the best schools for return investment in the country, WSU’s tuition costs are a selling point for the university.

However, on Feb. 26 WSU held a meeting titled “Truth in Tuition” regarding the possibility of tuition rising at the university. This comes after the Utah state legislature allocated only $20 million to public universities in the state instead of the originally proposed $35 million. With this decrease in funding for the year, that leaves $834,000 in funding for WSU, which begins July 1.

WSU administration, including Jessica Oyler, the vice president of Student Access and Success, and Ravi Krovi, provost & senior vice president of Academic Affairs, were leading the meeting to show WSU’s perspective on the situation.

With student retention and population growing steadily over the past few years, the decrease in state money allocated to the university comes at a time when money is needed now more than ever at the university. Because of this, WSU will likely have to increase tuition costs to make up for the discrepancy in funding.

Krovi and Oyler told attendees of the meeting that the percentage raise will likely be around 2%, or about $110 per year for the first increase. The university plans to increase this to a 3.5%, or about $192 per year.

Currently, 70% of WSU students are receiving some sort of financial aid from the university, with the average aid amount being just over $5,000 per student.

WSU has not announced specific or certain tuition raises but students should check their eWeber portal for tuition increases for the following semester.

Weber State University has resources and scholarships available for students who may not be able to afford this increase in price, including the WSU Specialized Scholarship form and the Financial Aid office.