- Utah's higher education board approved a 2.82% systemwide tuition hike.
- Students all all eight of Utah's public degree-granting schools will see a rate increase.
- The University of Utah will have the largest tuition/fee dollar increase for the 2026–2027 academic year.
Utah college students are feeling inflation’s pinch whenever they go to the movies, pick up lunch, buy sneakers, pay for car insurance — and enroll in class.
This year’s approved tuition and fees increases, according to UBHE, were approved after receiving proposals from the state’s public higher education institutions, which were then analyzed by the Utah System of Higher Education Commissioner’s Office.
The final 2.82% systemwide weighted average tuition increase came in below the proposed system request of 2.96%
The Utah System of Higher Education classified the increases as “modest.”
“The board’s tuition and fee approvals this year reflect our ongoing focus on keeping higher education affordable across the system — including maintaining low-cost technical education and carefully reviewing tuition proposals at our degree-granting institutions,” said Amanda Covington, chair of the Utah Board of Higher Education.
“We appreciate the thoughtful collaboration between our institutions, the commissioner’s office and the board as we worked to balance institutional needs with our commitment to affordability, access and value for Utah students.”
Utah law requires education board to set tuition for the state’s public colleges and universities, while authorizing the board to “fix the tuition, fees and charges for each institution” at levels the board finds necessary to meet budget requirements.
“Degree-granting institutions have proposed a 2.96% weighted average tuition and general fee increase for FY 2027 — which is higher than last year’s 2.24% increase,” noted a higher ed memo.
“With the Consumer Price Index inflation expected to measure 2.9% in fiscal year 2027, many institutional tuition and fee proposals offer real gains in affordability to students.”
In 2024, tuition and fees in Utah’s higher education system increased 3.1%
During this year’s tuition review, the board reportedly considered and amended or reduced tuition and fee proposals for Utah State University and Utah Tech University.
Tuition/fee adjustment at each Utah school for the 2026–2027 academic year
While the board-approved systemwide tuition/fee increases average out at 2.82%, there were increase variations among the eight degree-granting institutions for the 2026–2027 academic year.
For a resident undergraduate student taking 15 credits per semester for two semesters during the 2026–2027 academic year:
- A University of Utah student will pay $317 more than the prior academic year — a 2.92% increase.
- A Utah State University student will pay $286 more — reflecting a 3.22% increase.
- A Weber State University student will pay $132 more — a 2.35% increase for lower division classes; a 2.99% increase for upper division courses.
- A Southern Utah University student will pay $173 more — a 2.44% increase.
- A Utah Tech University student will pay $181 more — a 2.8% increase.
- A Utah Valley University student will pay $199 more — a 2.98% increase.
- A Salt Lake Community College student will pay $105 more — a 2.31% increase.
- A Snow College student will pay $157 more — a 3.53% increase.
Meanwhile, for public institutions with a technical college role, the board approved net-neutral tuition increases for Mountainland Technical College, Ogden-Weber Technical College and Utah State University technical education programs — along with a general fee reduction proposed by Snow College.
The board also approved holding the remaining technical college tuition and fee schedules constant for the 2026–27 academic year while the commissioner’s office conducts an interim review of technical education tuition and fee structures, paired with a statutory requirement for a study on technical college capacity funding, according to Utah System of Higher Education.
Tuition rates are adjusted, the release added, to meet the legislative requirement “to fund compensation increases, mandatory costs and other expenditures such as tenure and promotion of faculty, and to cover other costs for student services, programs and more.”
Strategic reinvestment reports await Utah’s higher education leaders
With next year’s tuition and fee adjustments finalized, the higher education board will now re-focus its attention on each higher education institution’s annual strategic reinvestment report.
In 2025, the Utah Legislature required the state’s eight degree-granting institutions to reallocate 10% from their respective budgets toward strategic reinvestment initiatives. Each school’s reinvestment plans are being implemented over a three-year period that began last year.
And on Thursday, the board voted unanimously to begin moving toward strategic reinvestment plans at its technical colleges.
In a few months, the board will hear updated reallocation plans from the state’s degree-granting schools, while formalizing strategic reinvestment guidelines for Utah’s technical colleges.