Four-Year Tuition Compact
University of Kansas
Beginning in Fall 2007
This year KU completed a five-year tuition enhancement plan that was endorsed and supported by students,
faculty, and staff. The plan was instrumental in improving the quality of a KU education through the funding of
additional faculty members, increased classroom technology, new scientific equipment, and expanded library resources.
The next stage of tuition planning for KU undergraduates is the Four-Year Tuition Compact,
a fixed-rate tuition and fees proposal. This Compact is designed to provide incoming KU freshmen
and their families with fixed tuition rates and fees so that they can calculate "up-front" most
of the costs incurred in earning a KU undergraduate degree.
Additional information and supporting documents can be found in the table below.
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BACKGROUND
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Over the past 30 years, annual tuition increases at the University of Kansas have averaged 9.3 percent.
However, the actual year-to-year increases have ranged from zero to 25.2 percent, making it difficult
for students and families to create the long-term financial plans that are necessary to pay for a college education.
To provide more predictability, students at the University of Kansas proposed the concept of a guaranteed
four-year tuition plan. On March 16, 2005, KU's Student Senate approved a resolution that supported the
development and implementation of this tuition compact. The student-driven initiative, endorsed by the
University administration, is the basis of KU's Four-Year Tuition Compact.
A long-term tuition compact such as this is distinctive because of its comprehensive nature.
Other universities may guarantee tuition rates, but they do not necessarily guarantee
other related costs, such as course fees. The Four-Year Tuition Compact between KU
and its students reflects KU's unprecedented commitment to making college costs predictable.
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CURRENT STATUS
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The Kansas Board of Regents approved the fixed-rate tuition concept at its
October 2006 meeting. The specifics of the KU Four-Year Tuition Compact are
contained in the proposal submitted to the Kansas Board of Regents in May 2007.
Highlights from the proposal are listed below and are subject to final Board of
Regent approval at their meeting on June 28, 2007.
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The KU Four-Year Tuition Compact is not a tuition savings or discounted tuition plan.
It is a cost predictor. It provides freshmen and their families with fixed tuition
rates per credit hour and helps students and their families estimate many of the
costs associated with earning a four-year undergraduate degree at KU
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Beginning with the Fall 2007 freshman class, first-time, degree-seeking KU freshmen
will pay special tuition rates, known as Compact Tuition rates, for 4 full years.
These Compact Tuition rates will not increase during the four-year period, and
students may take as many or as few classes as they wish.
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The Compact matches the length of time it takes for a student taking 16 hours a
semester to complete most bachelor's degree programs at KU. Students not included
in the Four-Year Tuition Compact (sophomores, juniors, seniors,
transfer students, and graduate students) will pay regular tuition rates, known as
Standard Tuition rates, during the 2007-08 academic year.
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Proposed academic Course Fees, sometimes referred to as differential tuition, have been established
for the next four fiscal years, FY 2008 through FY 2011. This would provide an additional measure of
educational cost certainty for all KU students, including those paying Standard Tuition.
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Efforts are underway to establish a chart of Required Campus Fees that would be
in effect for the next four fiscal years. This would provide an additional measure
of educational cost certainty for all KU students, including those paying Standard Tuition.
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SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS
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THE DOCUMENTS ARE BEST VIEWED USING ADOBE READER 7.0 OR HIGHER
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