CWU News

---

Tuition will drop 20 percent at CWU over the next two years. The reduction, approved by the state Legislature in June, will reduce the price of a bachelor’s degree by $1,686 over two years.

“This price cut puts a college education within reach of working families throughout Washington,” said CWU President James L. Gaudino. “It’s wonderful to see the state step up to the responsibility to support public higher education.”

Tuition will drop 5 percent for the 2015-16 school year and again by 15 percent for the 2016-17 school year, according to George Clark, vice president for business and financial affairs.

“That drops tuition to about $6,900 this year and $5,900 the year after,” said Clark. “That makes CWU an incredible bargain compared to the state’s big universities, which will still charge as much as $9,183 per year.”

Clark said the 30-percent disparity is due to the fact that research universities like the UW and WSU will only reduce tuition by 5 percent and 10 percent.

Clark said the tuition cuts for CWU bring tuition to its lowest level since 2008-09, when tuition was $5,724. CWU also provides more than $11 million in tuition waivers to help students afford school. Clark said CWU’s aggressive approach to student aid last year dropped the average tuition cost to $3,000 for undergraduates.

The generous aid, combined with comprehensive academic advising and smarter communications strategies, is expected to push freshmen enrollment up by more than 15 percent this year. The most recent projections indicate that the university student body will increase by at least 270 students over the next two years. This comes at a time when other universities and colleges in Washington have seen a decline in overall enrollments.

State community and technical college tuition rates will not change this year and will be reduced by only 5 percent for 2016-17.

Media contact: Linda Schactler, Executive Director of Public Affairs, 509-963-1384, schactler@cwu.edu

July 28, 2015