Arkansas Tech University trustees pass balanced budget with 2.55% tuition increase
Arkansas Tech University students will see a tuition and fees increase beginning next fall after the ATU Board of Trustees approved the university's 2025-26 operating budget Thursday at a meeting held at the Ozark campus.
Undergraduate students enrolled in 15 credit hours at the Russellville campus will pay $5,113.50 a semester in tuition and mandatory fees, a 2.55% increase, or $127.35 more, compared to the current academic year.
'Our number one priority during the budgeting process for the 2025-26 academic year was to maintain affordability for our students,' said ATU President Dr. Russell Jones. 'We wish that number could be zero like it was when we submitted the 2024-25 budget, but in this time of inflation and given the other budgetary factors beyond our control… we achieved our goal of keeping an Arkansas Tech education within reach.'
The $170.3 million budget includes responses to a drop in state funding, decreased revenue from sales and services, and a projected 10% increase in health insurance costs. To balance the budget, the university opted to hold maintenance, operations and scholarship spending flat while raising tuition and fees.
Graduate tuition and fees also will increase by 2.55% in 2025-26. Career education and skilled trades students at the ATU-Ozark campus will see tuition rise approximately $4 a student semester credit hour, from $136.01 to $140.09.
Beyond budgetary decisions, the Board also approved several policy and program changes, including:
The deletion of the Master of Education in K-12 Literacy program
The continuation of provisional positions at the Russellville campus
Updates to the hazing prevention policy and student code of conduct to align with the federal Stop Campus Hazing Act, signed into law in December 2024
Approval of fines and fees administered by the Division of Student Affairs for 2025-26
A constitutional amendment for the ATU Staff Senate adjusting the terms of office
The rescission of the university's affirmative action policy
A new events policy affecting both internal and external use of ATU facilities
This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Budget balancing act at ATU includes 2.55% tuition bump
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