Tarleton State University will raise the price of attendance next year. Tuition and fees will be rising next fall, but will only apply to incoming freshmen and seniors who have not graduated by May of 2015, as stated in Tarleton President Dr. F. Dominic Dottavio’s email sent out on Thursday, Nov. 6.

“Tarleton’s Guaranteed Tuition and Fees rate for fall 2015 entering freshmen will increase 1.93 percent, based on the change in the Consumer Price Index as calculated by The Texas A&M University System,” said Dottavio in the email. “Current students will continue to pay the same tuition and fees as this year under the Guaranteed Tuition and Fees plan.

As an incentive to graduate on time,” Dottavio added, “current seniors who do not graduate this academic year will face a 1.11 percent tuition and fee increase, which will match the current junior rate.”

Consumer price index reflects the prices of certain items purchased by large numbers of people. As the Tarleton student body gets bigger each year, so will the inflation.

“The increases for incoming freshmen vary by major and range from $65.77 per semester for students in the College of Liberal and Fine Arts to $77.99 a semester for students in the Nursing and Engineering programs,” Lisa Lewis, Student Account Services, said in a recent news release on the Tarleton website. “The increases for non-graduating seniors range from $36.45 to $43.39 per semester.”

Incoming freshmen will not realize that tuition is going up for them, but seniors who do not graduate by May of 2015 will receive a larger bill for their extra semesters. The push for timely graduation has been described by Dottavio as an incentive; however, students pursuing multiple minors or degrees, those whose degree programs require classes only available in certain semesters, and individuals who need extra time to graduate may not feel so motivated.

“It’s not fair that it’s going up just for us [seniors graduating late] but not everyone else,” said Pilar Gonzalez, a senior Tarleton student. “Sometimes certain courses we need to take aren’t available, so it can push us back a semester. Therefore, it’s not always our fault that we are graduating late, but the university’s fault. If they’re going to raise tuition it should be for everyone, not just the ones who graduate late.”

The change in tuition rates has lead some to question the motives behind it, with many students speculating that the increase in cost has been implemented to offset the cost of various construction projects around campus. However, according to Lori Beaty, Director of Business Services and Controller, the cost increase is not correlated with Tarleton’s expansion.

“The tuition increase for incoming freshmen this fall is simply an inflationary increase,” said Beaty. “Construction of residence halls, or the potential stadium project, will not be funded by tuition. From time to time, minor construction projects directly related to educational facilities (labs, classrooms, etc.) will be funded by tuition reserves, but that is not typical.”

For more information about the upcoming tuition and fees increase, students may contact the business office.