Tuition to raise in fall 2024
Augustana’s tuition is set to raise by 2.48% in the 2024-2025 academic year, increasing the cost of attendance by $1,220 per student. The increase includes the costs for overall tuition, fees, room and board.
In 2024-2025, total undergraduate direct costs will be $49,880 before tax. Currently, it costs $48,660.
Adam Heinitz, associate vice president of enrollment management, said the tuition increase was necessary to bolster the operational budget of Augustana.
“The necessity of it is really to kind of make it all work,” Heinitz said. “From the basic things like housing, heat, food to the exceptional educational experiences and student life experiences. Those things all cost more than they did a year ago and certainly more than they did a few years ago.”
According to chief financial officer Shannan Nelson, the university has annually increased tuition for the past 15 years by an average of 2-4%. Last year, the direct cost of attendance increased by 5%, and in 2022-2023, it increased by 4%.
Nelson said the increase will still allow Augustana to remain competitive with other universities and colleges in the region, such as Morningside University and Dordt University.
“With our regional peers, we’re still in the bottom third overall with costs, and we’re still in the top third when it comes to overall scholarships,” Nelson said.
According to a chart provided by Nelson, the cost of attendance at Morningside University is currently $49,394 and Dordt’s cost is $47,390.
Heinitz said merit-based scholarships, like the presidential and Augustana scholarships, will be increased by $1,000 to offset the tuition increase. However, the scholarship increase will only apply to future first-time undergraduate students starting fall 2024.
“Prospective students are offered a comprehensive financial aid package after they have been offered admission to Augustana and, in most cases, filed the FAFSA,” Tresse Evenson, assistant vice president of financial aid, said. “The amounts offered are locked in their first year.”
Heinitz said scholarships like the presidential and Augustana scholarships are unfunded, meaning they are essentially discounts the university provides.
Funded scholarships are generally provided from an outside source, like a donor.
“The university works to increase funded scholarships, and that can have an impact on both incoming and then current students a little bit more,” Heinitz said.
Funded scholarships include those like the Buntrock Scholars Program, which recently was implemented after a $13.8 million gift from Dean and Rosemarie Buntrock. Private scholarships, include those like the South Dakota Freedom Scholarship, which allocated Augustana $380,000 for the 2024-2025 school year.
Impact scholarships also are categorized as funded scholarships. According to Evenson, Augustana has established more than 600 endowed scholarships and raised more than $740,000 in scholarship money for prospective and current students.
However, for some students, like junior Mia Fank, a communications major, those scholarships may not be enough.
“I don’t qualify for loans, and I pay completely out of pocket,” Fank said. “I don’t ask my parents, so needless to say, I am not thoroughly excited about the fact that I have to pay even more and now that my scholarships aren’t paying for all of it either.”
Fank works three jobs and has an internship, so she works 40-70 hours per week on top of her school work. According to Fank, her studies fall behind due to her work load.
Other students like sophomore Will Boyles, a biology and business student, were unsurprised by the tuition increase and believe the money will be put to good use.
“I’m not a fan of it, but if that’s what needs to happen, then it’s what needs to happen,” Boyles said.
