Here's a breakdown of student fees for 2025-26, 2026-27
Fees per semester credit hour for undergraduate students:
Resident - $299.19
Non-resident: $727.23
Fees per semester credit hour for graduate students:
Resident: $446.94
Non-resident: $875.33
EVANSVILLE — The Indiana Commission for Higher Education has recommended fees stay flat at Indiana's public colleges and universities, and the University of Southern Indiana is following its lead.
Thursday, the USI Board of Trustees met in special session where they voted unanimously to keep tuition at its current rate for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years. All mandatory fees will also stay the same, keeping student fees per credit hour around $300 for residents and $730 for those outside Indiana.
This comes after the commission's recommendation and Gov. Mike Braun's request that higher education be more efficient with tax dollars.
The commission's student member, Samantha Fleischaker, is currently in her third year at USI, studying political science and philosophy. In a news release from the commission, Flesischaker said keeping tuition flat opens opportunity for students of all backgrounds.
“It sends the message that education is not just for one demographic − it’s for all people," she stated. "It’s not just a number. It’s the difference between opportunity and what feels impossible."
During Thursday's meeting, USI President Steve Bridges said the university has consistently focused on student affordability.
"As a public-serving institution, it's important that we not pass the cost of the appropriation cut-offs to our students and families, especially during times of economic uncertainty," he said.
Indiana's revenue forecast shows a budget shortfall of $2.4 billion dollars over the next two years. In the budget, higher education institutions received at least a 5% operating reduction, with an additional 5% held in reserve.
According to its financial transparency report, about 51.6% of USI's 2024–25 operating budget came from state appropriations. Student fees made up 38.5%.
The state appropriation for fiscal year 2024-25 was $67,263,719.
Ron Romain, a local businessman and USI trustee, said he understands what the state is doing, but he expressed concern about where a 0% increase takes the university.
"Two years of no increase, the compounding effect of that over time, is probably going to play out somewhere in terms of our quality incomes," he said.
Romain said to keep up with what USI needs to attract and retain high-quality faculty requires money. He asked Bridges if it would be possible to talk with Braun about an increase in the second year.
"My personal opinion, the quality issue could show up negatively over the longer term if we're not very, very careful," he said.
Bridges said in the interim, he will be going to the key people at the state level, Braun, the speaker of the house and president pro-tem, about USI's needs.
"We've been able to do this through some adjustments that won't effect quality in this period of time, I'm confident on that," Bridges said.
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