The Board of Trustees of Illinois State University set tuition, fees, and room and board rates for new freshman, transfer, and graduate students for the 2020-2021 academic year. Tuition and room and board rates will remain the same as the previous academic year. A change in mandatory student fees will result in a moderate increase in the overall cost of attendance.
The overall cost increase amounts to $487, or 1.97 percent, including a February 2020 Board-approved increase of $22 per academic year for optional student health insurance. The increase places total cost of attendance for a full-time undergraduate student, including health insurance, at $25,169 before any financial aid is applied.
New undergraduate students from Illinois will pay $384.13 per credit hour in tuition for the 2020-2021 academic year, the same rate as the previous year. New students this fall will continue to pay this rate through summer of 2024.
The mandatory student fees for the 2020-2021 academic year will be $107.78 per credit hour, a 16.8 percent increase from the previous academic year. Academic learning spaces, both on-campus and virtual, will be directly enhanced by the increase.
Residence hall rates, unchanged from the previous academic year, depend on the type of room (multiple occupancy, single or super single). Students will pay $2,667 per semester for a multiple occupancy room, $3,601 for a multiple occupancy room in a suite, $3,547 for a single room, $4,080 for a super single, $4,134 for a single in a suite, and $4,560 for a super single in a suite, during the 2020-2021 academic year. Housing rates for Cardinal Court apartments will range from $4,148 – $5,802 per semester, depending on apartment configuration and occupancy
Dining rates will remain unchanged from the previous academic year. A residential plan that includes seven days of unlimited meals will cost $2,258, or five days of unlimited meals will cost $2,148. A traditional plan of 19 meals per week will cost $2,307, or 14 meals per week will cost $2,180.
New out-of-state undergraduate students will pay $768.26 per credit hour for 2020-2021, the same rate as the previous academic year. Those students will continue to pay that rate through summer of 2024. In-state tuition for graduate students will be $403.59 per credit hour, while out-of-state graduate students will pay $838.30 per credit hour.
The Board of Trustees also:
- Authorized University officials to expend funds according to the FY2021 Spending Authorization by Object and Function of Expenditure until the Board takes further action on the FY2021 operating budget. FY2021 state appropriations to Illinois State University are not yet known and this action allows the University to meet its financial obligations beginning July 1.
- Approved the continuation of an agreement for FY2021 with EBSCO Industries, the primary periodicals and electronic databases vendor for Milner Library. The amount paid will remain at $2.4 million from general revenue, the same the library has paid for several years.
- Authorized the University to enter into a six-month extension of the current agreement with Connect Transit for transportation services for the period of July 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020. Negotiations on a new agreement are in progress but are not anticipated to be settled by the June 30, 2020 expiration date of the current extension. The agreement allows University faculty, staff, and students to use their Illinois State University Redbird Card as a bus pass. The extension is not to exceed $295,000. Funding comes from student fee revenues.
- Honored Student Trustee Sarah Aguilar for her two-year term of service on the Board of Trustees.
- Approved an amendment to President Larry Dietz’s contract to extend the term to December 31, 2020. Dietz’s current contract took effect on September 30, 2017, with a term ending June 30, 2020.
