Last week, when the Utah Board of Higher Education approved tuition and fees for Utah’s colleges and universities, Weber State University’s proposal stood out.
In stark contrast to the persistent national narrative of excessive costs, unnecessary programs and administrative overhead running rampant, Weber State intentionally asked for no increase in combined tuition and fees for students pursuing an associate’s degree.
Why would Weber State freeze its own tuition?
The decision is the result of several factors.
Dating back to the creation of the Weber Stake Academy in 1889, our founders established a remarkable principle — that education should be open to all, with tuition “within the reach of the humblest in the land.”
In 1959, the Utah Legislature approved the addition of four-year programs at Weber College, in addition to providing two-year degrees to meet industry needs. At WSU, we call this our “dual mission” to serve both the two-year and four-year needs of our community.
Instead of a separate community college and four-year institution, a dual-mission institution has the advantage of less administrative overhead, seamless transfer of classes and familiarity for students who already know the university, their friends and the faculty and staff.
But over time, one distinct element has been lost from our dual mission: the cost of earning an associate’s degree.
While we maintain a relatively affordable price tag for bachelor’s degrees compared to any national standard, the rate for an associate degree is significantly higher — almost $2,200 more than two-year schools in Utah.
Studies repeatedly show that cost is a major barrier to higher education access and success. A 2021 Cicero Group study focused on Utah found that cost is still the primary structural barrier to education, especially for nontraditional, stopout and lower socioeconomic status students.
More troubling for me, recent census data shows that in Weber County, only 27% of residents aged 25 or older have a bachelor’s degree or higher. That’s lower than the state average of 36.1% and significantly lower than other Wasatch Front counties.
In 2019 and 2023, the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems recommended that dual-mission institutions in Utah address access, cost and timely completion concerns by differentiating tuition between associate and bachelor’s degree programs.
Studies from other states have verified the positive impact on access and affordability following a decrease in associate degree tuition. A 2017 Texas study found that “Reducing community college tuition by $1,000 increased enrollment in community college by 5.1 percentage points, roughly a 20 percent increase.” Similarly, a 2021 Michigan study found that “reducing tuition at a student’s local community college by $1,000 increases enrollment at the college by 3.5 percentage points.”
Understanding the access and affordability challenges in northern Utah, Weber State is leading out with a pilot program for the state of Utah that we believe will demonstrate the value and benefit of keeping associate’s degrees affordable.
Holding true to our founders’ original vision 136 years ago, our tuition proposal for 2025–26 did not increase combined tuition and student fees for WSU students who have completed fewer than 60 credit hours. For the other 51% of our students who have earned 60 credits or more, there’s a small increase of 2.07% — less than the rate of inflation, and among the lowest of our degree-granting peer institutions.
The freeze of combined tuition and fees represents a savings of $135 for first-year and sophomore full-time resident students. This is a modest first step in establishing a differential tuition level. But, for most students, every dollar matters.
We are committed to growing this differential over time until it reaches $1,000 through state support paired with the additional tuition we’ll collect as our enrollment grows.
This, combined with other affordability initiatives we’ve launched in the past year, are key tools we’re employing to help more students afford college.
If successful, we’re excited to be a model that the rest of Utah — and the country — can follow.