Purdue University freeze tuition for 5th consecutive year

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - Purdue University has decided to freeze tuition for the fifth consecutive year.

President Mitch Daniels announced Wednesday at a Purdue Student Government meeting that tuition and fees will remain flat through the 2017-2018 school year. That means resident tuition will stay at about $10,000, out-of-state students will continue to pay about $28,800, and international student tuition will remain at about $30,800.

'We're looking in every place, and I think there's plenty more to do, to reduce the non-essential spending," Daniels said.

He said the university has saved a significant amount of money by buying smarter, building efficiently, modernizing its health plan, using existing resources carefully and cutting back on administrative costs. But he said Purdue has still been able to grow faculty and research and increase pay at faster rates than other universities.

Daniels assured students that the tuition freeze won't come at the expense of faculty and staff.

He also announced at the meeting that Purdue will offer a 2.5 percent merit pool increase to university employees this year. The pool was increased by 3.5 percent last year.

"It is absolutely our job to concentrate the resources of this place on teaching the students and researching for the future and that's what we're going to do," Daniels said.

Purdue has saved its students $134 million over the first three years of the tuition freeze, according to a statement from the university.

Daniels said the tuition freeze has played a role in the increase of student applications.

"Purdue now has some reputation as a school that is sensitive to the cost of students and trying to remain accessible to students of all income levels," he said.