<p>Does anyone know of any laws limiting tuition increases at public colleges in the above states? My son is looking for a school which will give him a great merit scholarship in those states. However, most schools give you a set amount, not "full tuition", etc. With the economy going an uncertain and unpredicticable path, I would feel better knowing the extent to which the charges at the colleges could rise.</p>
<p>I don’t know of any such laws for those states.</p>
<p>a few schools have policies not to increase tuition for current students, but those are rather rare.</p>
<p>Beware of such laws/policies because schools will just raise other costs…like super high fees, etc. Massachusetts has this policy but now the fees cost about 3 times as much as the tuition! LOL</p>
<p>You might want to look for scholarships that increase as tuition increases. Both my sons have scholarships that cover all their tuition…even the increases.</p>
<p>What are his stats?</p>
<p>In OK my daughter’s tuition increased around 9-10% her 1st two years. Did not increase the third year (all the State Us agreed to not increase it with the economy woes), then increased again this year. She has a full tuition waiver scholarship so her tuition is covered even with the tuition increases BUT the State Us in Oklahoma have high per credit hour fees and the tuition waivers do not generally cover those.</p>
<p>Most of the scholarships at her school are set $ amounts. There are some full tuition waiver scholarships though may only waive the OOS portion for OOS students. The NMF waives full tuition for OOS students as well. </p>
<p>Most tuition scholarships at OK schools do not cover the fees and they are almost as much again as the tuition though some of them have additional cash scholarships that help offset the fees. They are usually set amounts which do not increase when fees increase.</p>
<p>She has a full tuition waiver scholarship so her tuition is covered even with the tuition increases BUT the State Us in Oklahoma have high per credit hour fees and the tuition waivers do not generally cover those.</p>
<p>Many schools (not just publics) have “course fees” to cover lab costs, technology costs, etc. Figure about 500-600 dollars per year for those. Many students can easily earn that with a part time job or summer job.</p>
<p>How much merit does your son need?</p>
<p>How much will you be able to contribute?</p>
<p>What is his likely majo</p>
<p>
This may be different in your school but I am only talking about OK as that is the one I know about, and the OP asked about OK in her post. In OK (where my kids go to school so I do know what the fees are) public Us the fees are per credit hour and are almost as much again as tuition. It varies by which college within the school - engineering the fees are maybe $4-5 less per hour than instate tuition costs, Arts and Sciences they are about $15-$20 less. At the big Us they run into thousands of dollars a year, not $500 to $600. As I said in my post, almost as much again as the tuition. Individual course fees such as labs and fiels trips are in addition to the fees I am talking about. </p>
<p>I think they are a way to get round any limitations placed on tuition increases. And of course the full tuition waivers do not usually cover these fees so when the tuition and fees increase the tuition is covered for full waiver scholars, but not the fees. Last year they considered not increasing tuition but increasing fees :eek: . Fortunately that did not happen.</p>
<p>OP - For the full tuition waivers in OK your son would probably need to be a NMF if he is OOS. The other full tuition waivers mostly waiver OOS tuition but not the instate for OOS students.</p>
<p>I think it’s fairly common for fees to either be bundled with tuition or to be almost as high as tuition itself, especially at schools that brag heavily about how they have low tuition or tuition waivers or caps on tuition increases. It’s not quite a lie, but it’s extremely deceptive from my perspective, sort of like those stores that promise you a 20% discount on a 75% markup.</p>
<p>At LSU, unfortunately, the trend appears to be going in the opposite direction of limiting tuition increases due to the state’s fiscal problems. Legislation was passed recently allowing LSU to increase tuition up to 10% annually if certain academic benchmarks are met. However, LSU is one of the least expensive flagship universities, so even given such increases, their tuition is still lower than peer schools. </p>
<p>Prior to the 2011-12 school year, LSU offered half and full waivers of OOS tuition as well as full tuition scholarships to students with reasonably good GPAs and SAT/ACT test scores. These scholarships made LSU attractive to many OOS students, and as a result, the university experienced a 39% increase in applicants with ACT scores in the 28-36 range. Beginning with the 2011-12 school year, all OOS scholarships will be awarded in set amounts rather than guarantees to cover partial or full tuition. This was done in part to enable the university to more predictably plan for their scholarship costs in the coming years as they face an ever-tightening budget. </p>
<p>It looks like the in-state scholarship program, TOPS, is not affected by any of these changes.</p>
<p>*This may be different in your school but I am only talking about OK as that is the one I know about, and the OP asked about OK in her post. In OK (where my kids go to school so I do know what the fees are) public Us the fees are per credit hour and are almost as much again as tuition. It varies by which college within the school - engineering the fees are maybe $4-5 less per hour than instate tuition costs, Arts and Sciences they are about $15-$20 less. At the big Us they run into thousands of dollars a year, not $500 to $600. As I said in my post, almost as much again as the tuition. Individual course fees such as labs and fiels trips are in addition to the fees I am talking about.</p>
<p>I think they are a way to get round any limitations placed on tuition increases. And of course the full tuition waivers do not usually cover these fees so when the tuition and fees increase the tuition is covered for full waiver scholars, but not the fees. Last year they considered not increasing tuition but increasing fees . Fortunately that did not happen.</p>
<p>OP - For the full tuition waivers in OK your son would probably need to be a NMF if he is OOS. The other full tuition waivers mostly waiver OOS tuition but not the instate for OOS students. *</p>
<p>Wow…so OK is getting to be like Massachusetts with huge fees. Do you mean a “university fee” charged by the number of credits or “course fees” which are extra fees charged by the type of course it is…like a physics lab fee? </p>
<p>*For the full tuition waivers in OK your son would probably need to be a NMF if he is OOS. The other full tuition waivers mostly waiver OOS tuition but not the instate for OOS students. *</p>
<p>And…U of OK has reduced its NMF scholarship value over the years. It used to include housing and nearly all tuition costs (OOS portion and instate)…now it covers only OOS portion of tuition and a small amount towards housing. </p>
<p>You’re right, for “non-NMF” top stats students, the scholarship doesn’t cover the instate part…only the OOS part. <a href=“http://www.ou.edu/content/dam/recruitment/Downloads/2010.11%20FR%20Scholarship%20Descriptions.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ou.edu/content/dam/recruitment/Downloads/2010.11%20FR%20Scholarship%20Descriptions.pdf</a> </p>
<p>so a student would still have to pay instate rate (about $8k per year) plus room, board and books…about $17k per year. [Cost</a> and Financial Aid - OU Prospective Students - The University of Oklahoma](<a href=“http://www.ou.edu/content/go2/home/cost.html]Cost”>http://www.ou.edu/content/go2/home/cost.html)</p>
<p>You’d be better off having your son go to a school that covers all tuition (including any OOS costs), and then only have to pay for room, board and books.</p>