EAST LANSING, Mich. (WXYZ) — Michigan State University said Friday it will freeze tuition for the 2020-21 amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
The university said it has also started addressing the financial implications of the pandemic.
“In the coming months many families will be facing difficult financial decisions as a result of the pandemic. In freezing tuition rates for the upcoming academic year, we are doing what we can to ensure students can stay in our Spartan family,” MSU President Samuel Stanley said in a release. “The core of a land-grant university’s mission is to provide access to quality, affordable education for all – no matter the challenge or circumstance.”
MSU is operating under a two-year budget that was approved in June 2018, which established a tuition freeze for all undergrad students.
The 2020-21 tuition freeze would apply to all rates university wide except the College of Law where tuition decisions have yet to be made.
The university also said it is taking actions to address budget shortfalls including reducing travel expenditures, modifying construction and remodeling projects, and reviewing planned hiring. All executives will also to a 2% to 7% pay cut, lasting through June, but possibly for a full year. Stanley will also take a 10% cut.
“As we take required actions, we will keep our academic mission at the forefront of all we do. I intend, with your support, to ensure that MSU remains a place where students are excited to enroll, where faculty and staff find fulfilling work and where our community outreach makes a difference every day in Michigan and around the globe," Stanley said in a letter to students.
The freeze is subject to approval of the 2020-21 budget by the Michigan State University Board of Trustees.
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