CEU creates new tuition structure

While tuition at other colleges and universities takes another jump this year, College of Eastern Utah officials opted to keep increases at the Price school fairly low.

The $41 per-semester increase for full-time students gives CEU bragging rights to the "best value" for higher education in the state, said Brad King, CEU's vice president for institutional advancement and student services. Tuition at CEU was recently approved at a rate of $950 per semester for students taking from 10 to 19 credit hours.

Officials hope the new tuition scale will attract more students to the Price school.

"We expanded the plateau as a way to encourage students taking three classes to take more hours," said CEU President Ryan Thomas. "We hope that a student at nine hours will say, 'If I pay for one more hour, I can take two or three more classes for the same price."'

Community members will also see a benefit as rates for classes with three or fewer hours dropped substantially. CEU Provost Mike King said cost has been prohibitive for interested community members in the past.

"This will allow us to serve our neighbors better and provide a tool to increase enrollment," he said.

New rates for nonresident tuition, King said, should also help boost enrollment numbers at CEU. Instead of four times what resident students were paying, a new rate-setting policy approved by the Board of Regents will set nonresident tuition at twice the regular rates.

"We have capacity for more students," King said. "We think this can reinvigorate our international programs and add greatly to our campus experience."

Student fees at CEU did not see any increase this year, and for the second straight year, remain at $170.80 for full-time students.

"CEU students should feel good that they won't see large increases as they prepare for next year," said Emilee Dunn, CEU student body president.

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