The Board of Regents for Connecticut State Colleges and Universities — which includes four regional universities, the community colleges and the online Charter Oak State College — voted Thursday to keep tuition fees flat for the second year in a row but to raise food service costs and certain programmatic fees.
Average annual tuition at the state universities is about $7,000 for a full-time student. Tuition at the community colleges is about $5,200 for full-time, in-state students. The regents voted unanimously to keep those rates steady in the coming school year. Housing fees will also remain flat this year.
Food service fees will increase by about $200 at Central Connecticut State University and Eastern Connecticut State University, by about $270 at Southern Connecticut State University and by $300 at Western Connecticut State University. And several specialized programs will incur additional fees between $100 and $300 annually.
“We are not proposing increases in tuition for academic year 26-27. Nor are we proposing any changes in the mandatory fees. However, we do face increased costs. And so the institutions are proposing a select few number of fees that they’d like to see increased to cover those increased costs,” said CSCU Chief Financial Officer Lloyd Blanchard.
The move comes as public colleges and universities elsewhere the country have been raising tuition to offset declining revenues, slowing state investments and anticipated federal funding cuts. According to The Hechinger Report, tuition at public colleges this fall have risen as much as 10% after a period in which tuition increases were generally below the rate of inflation.
Connecticut has bucked that trend. This is the second year in a row that the state Board of Regents has frozen tuition — although housing costs rose last year between 2.75% and 12%. The previous year, tuition increased 5% as the colleges and universities faced the loss of federal COVID emergency funding.
With tuition frozen at last year’s rates, the CSCU system saw its student population rise. Student enrollment at the four state universities is nearly 10% higher than it was in the fall of 2024. Enrollment at the community colleges is 4.3% higher than at the same time last year.
Reserve funds
The boost in student enrollment could mean additional revenues for the state colleges and universities. But the system also has reserve funds to help keep things steady.
In March, CT Mirror reported that CSCU was sitting on about $600 million in budget reserves. The system plans to tap into its reserves in order to pay for expected shortfalls next year. So far this year, CSCU officials said they’ve used about $155 million in reserve funds.
“We are not sitting on a treasure trove. We are being strategic and responsible as it relates to our finances,” O. John Maduko, CSCU’s interim chancellor, said at Thursday’s regents’ meeting. “But we need to be cautious and we need to be conservative.”
The board also voted Thursday to approve several partnerships between local companies and state universities that would allow employees at the companies to receive a 5% discount if they enroll in the local state university.
Zulma Toro, president of Central CT State, said the university expected to enroll as many as 20 students through a partnership with Hanwha Aerospace. She said the college’s investment, for the 5% tuition discount, would equal about $5,700, and the college would receive about $109,600 in tuition.
“Even though higher education is not a business, in any business, this could be a nice investment,” said Toro.
She noted that Hanwha Aerospace had a long-standing partnership with Central, having donated $200,000 for the naming of the campus’ aerospace mechanical engineering lab, and that the company had pledged to put aside spaces for internships for seven Central students. The college is also partnering with Advanced Behavioral Care, which is working with students in the school’s College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences.
The board approved three partnerships at Western CT State — with the Danbury Chamber of Commerce, Newtown Savings Bank and Ives Bank.
At the Oct. 15 finance committee meeting, Western CT State President Jesse Bernal told the committee that the partnerships were part of the university’s strategy to get out of its $23 million deficit. “These kinds of arrangements are going to be central for us to be able to generate revenue,” said Bernal.
On Thursday, Ari Santiago, one of the regents, expressed support for the arrangements. “This is an opportunity to get our name out through people in the workforce who are looking to improve their position, gain more education,” Santiago said. “It opens us up to get marketing inside these organizations, and … we can gain additional students down the line.”
Financial insecurity
Still, many CSCU students struggle to afford necessities. Monthly visits to the college food pantries has grown by 40% over the past year. Recently, grocery chain Stop and Shop donated $200,000 to CSCU’s food pantries.
According to a survey of students at Central CT State last fall, nearly half said they ate less because they couldn’t afford enough food. About a quarter of the students said they skipped eating at least one day a week because of financial insecurity.
Looming federal cuts could make things even more challenging. Karen Hynick, acting provost at CT State Community College, told lawmakers in September that about 6,000 students, or about 11% of the student body, were eligible for SNAP benefits — a program that’s at risk of being cut off after this month due to the federal government shutdown.
And many students will face additional fees for the programs they’re enrolled in.
The Board of Regents also voted Thursday to add fees for specialized programs, including a $300 fee at Central for the college’s doctor of nurse anesthesia practice program and a $125 fee for the bachelors of nursing program.
Blanchard, CSCU’s CFO, said the fees would cover things like virtual reality software and equipment, as well as supplies like needles.
Additional fees will also apply to several programs at Southern CT State, including a $100 fee for the social work bachelors program, a $300 fee for the social work masters program and $300 for the occupational therapy program.
Lillian Wanjagi, Southern’s Chief Financial Officer, said at the Oct. 15 meeting that the masters in social work fee was connected to accreditation requirements, and the occupational therapy costs were connected to specialized tools used in the program.
Southern CT State Interim President Sandra Bulmer said that the cost of social work programs had increased “dramatically” because of the necessary clinical placements.
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