Board of Trustees passes Miami Tuition Promise

By Britton Perelman; Culture Editor

The Miami University Board of Trustees approved the implementation of a tuition guarantee program this morning by a unanimous vote. The new tuition guarantee will be in effect starting for the incoming freshman class next fall.

"The Tuition Promise basically gives students a price for the cost of their education each year that will remain in place for four years," said David Creamer, vice president of finance.

The Class of 2020 will be the first to benefit from the Tuition Promise, which will ensure that tuition and room & board rates remain fixed for the four years of a student's college career. Though there would be an initial increase for each incoming class of first-years, the increase is due to the fact that the price would then remain fixed for the following years.

The Tuition Promise acts as a helpful planning tool for prospective and newly accepted students and their families.

"Your scholarships are fixed when you come in, but your tuition continues to rise," said Creamer. "And under this plan, the difference between your scholarship and tuition will remain the same over the four year period.

When designing the Miami Tuition Promise, the Board of Trustees and Finance and Audit Committee looked to other schools around the nation with similar plans.

"We tried to think of the approach from the perspective of the student and design something that would be responsive to what students and parents are looking for in such a plan," said Creamer.

Though the tuition guarantee will be implemented for those students who enroll for the first time in the fall 2016 semester, returning Miami students will be unable to opt into the plan. Given the significant increase to compensate for the fixed four-year rate, there would be no benefit for returning students to pay the higher rate of the Tuition Promise.

Claire Wagner, director of communications, said there has already been an increase in the number of Early Decision and Early Action applications received for the 2016-2017 school year. She believes the Tuition Promise will be something that parents of prospective students, in particular, value about what Miami offers.

"This way, they will know how much to expect to pay for a four year undergraduate program," said Wagner.

Knowing how much a college education from Miami costs will allow students and their parents to take control of finances in a way they haven't been able to before.

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"There's a bit of stress when you sign up for college," said Wagner. "It's exciting, but there's some stress about looking at finances. So if we can alleviate some of that, it will help."

The Board of Trustees decision this morning brings to fruition an initiative that Associated Student Government adamantly supported since they proposed a tuition guarantee program in April 2014.

"Going forward, once all existing students cycle out, this is the way tuition will be set for all students going forward," said Creamer.

When newly accepted students receive their acceptance letters this year, information about the Tuition Promise will be included. For more information, visit miamioh.edu/tuitionpromise.