Board Of Regents Freezes Tuition At CT Colleges, Universities

HARTFORD, CT — The Board of Regents has announced that tuition and fees for the 17 Connecticut state colleges and universities will remain flat for the 2021-22 school year.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has hit Connecticut students particularly hard,” CSCU Interim President Dr. Jane Gates said in a statement. “The Board of Regents, recognizing that we cannot ask our students and their families to shoulder a greater share of the burden during these difficult times, made the wise but difficult decision to freeze tuition and most fees for the upcoming academic year. The institutions within the Connecticut State College and University system are the most affordable, accessible options to get a great education – and we intend to keep it that way.”

While the Regents have frozen tuition for the year, there are financial factors working against them. Chair Matt Fleury said in a statement that four factors could come into play: the community college merger could be blocked or reversed; the state could continue to reduce funding for colleges and universities; labor contracts at Central Connecticut State University could increase; and the effects of the pandemic could be "more dramatic than anticipated."

“Our strong position against a tuition increase depends on these things,” Fleury said in a statement. “We must continue to shift limited resources from management to student services and teaching; we must have a fair and workable contract that enables system and campus leaders to manage expenses; our colleges and universities must have sufficient state funding from the legislature; and we must have a continued recovery from the pandemic. ”

The tuition and fee plan also reduces fees charged for online instruction at the universities, adjusts the UPASS fee that funds unlimited public transit for students to $40 per semester, and restructures and reduces the cost of the meal plan at Central Connecticut State University.

The full details of the tuition freeze can be found on page 180 of the BOR’s agenda packet.