KU remains affordable as tuition grants double

This fall, the University of Kansas will double the amount of money it provides in tuition grants to low-income students. Even with the increase in tuition and fees approved in June by the Kansas Board of Regents, KU will remain a good value for students.

At the Lawrence campus, more than 4,000 students will be eligible for $3.44 million in aid. The maximum grant amount is $500 per semester for full-time undergraduates. This is twice what it was last year, while the number of recipients will remain the same.

"About 20 percent of the tuition enhancement provides tuition grants for the KU students who need it most," said David Shulenburger, KU provost and executive vice chancellor. "In addition, the tuition enhancement will provide much-needed new funding for a variety of high-priority academic programs at KU."

The tuition grants are based on additional unmet need created by the tuition enhancement increase. They are awarded at all KU campuses and are on top of the approximately $126 million in student financial aid and scholarships provided to KU students each year from federal, state, KU Endowment Association and other sources.

Annual tuition and fees at KU's Lawrence campus — $4,101 for Kansas resident undergraduates taking 15 credit hours per semester — still will be well below the rates charged by comparable universities in the region and nation, said Shulenburger. KU's new resident undergraduate rate, for example, is $2,457 less than the University of Missouri, $892 less than the University of Iowa and $390 less than the University of Nebraska. After today's announced increase, annual tuition and fees at KU and Kansas State University ($4,060) will remain essentially the same for 2003-04.

KU is a perennial pick in the Fiske Guide to Colleges, Barron's Best Buys in College Education and other college guide selections of the nation's best buys for the quality of education. In 2002-03, KU tuition and fees were the third lowest of the 34 public universities that are members of the Association of American Universities.

KU tuition and fees per semester as of fall 2003 (and the per semester increase over fall 2002):

• Kansas resident undergraduates: $2,050.25 ($308.50), based on 15 hours

• Nonresident undergraduates: $5,788.25 ($445), based on 15 hours

• Kansas resident graduate students: $2,159.60 ($264.70), based on 12 hours

• Nonresident graduate students: $5,324.60 ($380.50), based on 12 hours

• Kansas resident medical students: $7,475 ($1,018), full-time

• Nonresident medical students: $14,740.50 ($1,092.50), full-time

Tuition and fees represent about one-fourth of the total average annual cost of attending KU for resident undergraduates ($12,214 in 2002-03, factoring in room and board, books, travel and personal expenses). The increase in tuition and fees at Lawrence for resident undergraduate students ($617) represents about a 5 percent increase in the total cost of attending KU, now projected to be about $13,000 in 2003-04.

For comprehensive information about tuition at KU, visit http://www.tuition.ku.edu.