Tuition at Rutgers University will raise by 6% in the next academic year, as part of a $5.4 billion operating budget approval by the state university’s board of governors. There will also be a nearly 7% increase for meal plan costs and a 5% increase in housing costs for students who reside in Rutgers facilities.
Tuition for full-time New Jersey arts and sciences undergraduate students will increase by approximately $387 from $6,450 per semester to $6,837. Fees vary by program and by student, but typical fees are estimated to increase by approximately $100 per semester.
The tuition hike is twice last year’s 2.9% increase.
Rutgers officials attributed the rising costs to general inflation, increases in salaries and wages, sharp increases in utilities and commodities, and unprecedented increases in the cost of employee benefits, including health insurance premiums and pension contributions.
They also noted the university’s new labor contract with the faculty union following the five-day strike in April. That has led to a nearly 8% increase in labor costs for this year and for the duration of the four-year contract.
“Given the record amount of state support for Rutgers, I am disappointed with the overall size of the tuition increase,” Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin said in a statement. “Keeping Rutgers affordable, and tuition hikes reasonable, is far more appropriate for the students of our great state.”
As part of the budget Governor Murphy signed last week, the state will spend an additional $92 million for higher education, which will go in part to Rutgers and other New Jersey colleges and universities.
