Rutgers Board of Governors Approves Tuition, Fee, Room and Board Rates for the 2008-09 Academic Year

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – At its regular meeting today, the Board of Governors of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, established tuition, fee, and room and board rates for the 2008-09 academic year. Total charges for a typical in-state School of Arts and Sciences undergraduate living on the New Brunswick Campus will rise by 6.5 percent under the plan approved by the board.

To ensure that Rutgers remains accessible to a broad range of New Jersey residents, the board also allocated an additional $2.6 million in university funds for student financial aid. Increased state funding for the Tuition Aid Grant (TAG) and Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) programs also will assist in maintaining the affordability of a Rutgers education. Fifty-one percent of Rutgers undergraduates received need-based financial aid last year.

“At Rutgers, we have a longstanding commitment to the people of New Jersey to provide quality educational offerings that are both accessible and affordable,” said the Rev. M. William Howard Jr., chair of the Board of Governors. “In the face of economic challenges, including declining state support, our board has adopted a financial plan for the new academic year that will allow Rutgers to continue to achieve these important objectives.”

Tuition rates at Rutgers are based on appropriations in the annual state budget, as well as mandatory cost increases for personnel salaries, fuel and utilities, and other items. The state budget for 2008-09 includes a 10.8-percent reduction in base state appropriations for Rutgers, along with partial funding of negotiated salary increases. The anticipated combination of base and salary appropriations for Rutgers in the new academic year – approximately $309.5 million – is $12.4 million less than the university received from the state for the 1999-2000 academic year.

In addition to tuition and fee increases, the university plans to address the significant loss in state support this year through a variety of cost-saving measures: budget cuts in administrative, instructional and support units; continued efficiency gains on all three campuses; and deferrals of expenditures. Doing more with less is nothing new at Rutgers: A 2007 report by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems found New Jersey’s public research sector (including Rutgers) to be among the country’s best in educational performance relative to resources.

“Difficult decisions lie ahead,” said Rutgers President Richard L. McCormick, “but I am confident that our university community will meet the challenges of the coming year and maintain Rutgers’ commitment to excellence, access and affordability.”

As a result of today’s action by the Board of Governors, a typical New Brunswick arts and sciences student residing on campus will pay $9,268 in tuition and $2,272 in mandatory student fees during the 2008-09 academic year, along with $9,942 in room, board and related charges. For this student, tuition and mandatory fees will increase by 8 percent, and room and board charges will rise by 4.9 percent. Specific rates for other Rutgers students may differ; charges vary across the university’s campuses and schools.

Established in 1766, Rutgers is America’s eighth oldest institution of higher learning and one of the nation’s premier public research universities. Serving more than 50,000 students on campuses in Camden, Newark and New Brunswick, Rutgers offers more than 280 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.