Regents approve 2015-2016 operating budget

The plan includes a 5.3 percent increase in the financial aid budget, investment in building and facility updates, and allocations to address enrollment growth areas. The plan also meets the state legislature’s tuition restraints introduced earlier this month.

“University of Michigan-Dearborn is committed to providing academic excellence that is accessible to students of various means throughout the region,” said Daniel Little, chancellor, University of Michigan-Dearborn. “We continue to work hard to reduce costs so that we can invest in our most pressing priorities.”

The regents approved a 3.2 percent increase in in-state undergraduate and graduate tuition, marking the fourth consecutive year of increases less than 4 percent. Regents also approved a 1.6 percent increase to non-resident undergraduate and graduate tuition.

Undergraduate tuition and fees for a typical in-state, full-time undergraduate student will increase by $181 per semester to $5,781, based on 15 credit hours. The cost of tuition and fees for graduate students varies by program.

The university qualified for additional state performance funds as a result of meeting the tuition restraints established by the Michigan legislature and will see an increase in state appropriation of 1.3 percent, or $306,100.

UM-Dearborn continues to look for ways to cut costs and has redirected approximately $7 million from its operating budget over the past decade to support academic, financial aid and student expenditures of the highest priority. In this year’s budget, an additional $225,000 was redirected to support expenditures for the highest priority to operate UM-Dearborn. Savings have resulted from reorganizing existing processes, combining staff in operations areas, gaining departmental efficiencies and continuing to leverage business operations practices with the Ann Arbor and Flint campuses.

UM-Dearborn has created a website, http://umdearborn.edu/rr_understanding_tuition/, to help students better understand the various factors used in determining tuition rates and resources available such as financial aid and scholarship opportunities.