Tuition will go up 3% next fiscal year (2024-2025). According to Chief Financial Officer Joel Klucking, tuition increases every year due to a 2015 state law called the College Affordability Act.
Klucking said that when the act was created, the legislature put a cap on how much the universities in Washington could increase their resident undergrad tuition and lowered tuition by 20%.
“They have this formula based on a 14 year average of median hourly wage growth in Washington,” Klucking said. “They take the average of median wage growth over 14 years and that is the maximum percentage that the six institutions can raise [the tuition].”
According to Klucking, tuition at CWU goes to cover the cost of living and other inflationary increases.
“This 3% increase in tuition will partially offset some of that,” Klucking said.