KU boosts tuition help for students in need

KU is increasing its undergraduate tuition grants by 50 percent during the 2004-05 school year.

Undergraduate students in greatest need could each receive annual grants of as much as $1,500, a $500 increase from the 2003-04 school year. In all, $5.16 million will be devoted to the tuition grants for undergraduate and graduate students, three times the amount offered during 2002-03 and four times the amount of financial aid provided to KU students through state-funded programs. During 2003-04, nearly 4,100 students received tuition grants.

Students will receive 25 percent more financial assistance in all forms for 2004-05 compared with 2001-02. More than $150 million in total financial aid will be given to KU students in 2004-05, including assistance from programs such as KU tuition grants, scholarships, federal and state aid, student employment and aid from outside sources.

This is the third year of a five-year tuition plan approved by the regents in 2002. As part of the plan, KU's tuition and fees will increase to $2,368 per semester from $2,050 for resident undergraduate students. Figures are for full-time undergraduate students taking 15 hours per semester.

When compared with the flagship universities in three neighboring states, KU's tuition and fees remain the lowest. The University of Missouri-Columbia will charge $3,587 per semester in 2004-05; the University of Iowa, $2,698 per semester; and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, $2,618 per semester (preliminary estimate).

In addition to the tuition grants, KU is investing tuition revenue in technology improvements, library support, new faculty and staff positions, wage and salary increases for student employees and graduate teaching assistants (GTAs), and operating expenses for schools and departments.

For the 2004-05 school year, KU will invest more than $8.6 million in a variety of tuition-funded efforts to strengthen the University. This is in addition to the $17.4 million spent in the first two years of the plan.

For 2004-05, tuition enhancement items include:

— $2 million to hire new faculty members
— $2 million to increase the salaries of current faculty
— $500,000 to hire new staff members
— $900,000 in staff salary increases
— $1 million to increase salaries for graduate teaching assistants
— $200,000 to hire new GTAs and lecturers
— $500,000 in improvements to KU libraries

For more information, go to www.tuition.ku.edu/.