The Board of Trustees of Illinois State University set tuition, fees, and room and board rates for new freshman, transfer, and graduate students for the 2019-2020 academic year. There is no increase in tuition and room and board rates over the previous academic year. Mandatory fees will increase by $10 per credit hour.
The overall total cost increase amounts to $316, or 1.3 percent, including a February 2019 Board-approved increase of $16 per academic year for optional student health insurance. The increase places total cost of attendance for a full-time student, including health insurance, at $24,682.
New undergraduate students from Illinois will pay $384.13 per credit hour in tuition for the 2019-2020 academic year. New students this fall will continue to pay this rate through summer of 2023.
The mandatory student fees for the 2019-2020 academic year will be $92.28 per credit hour, a 12 percent increase from the 2018-2019 academic year. This rate will also apply to students new to the University in the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 academic years. The increased fees for 2019-2020 will be directed solely to academic enhancement needs, especially technology and facilities.
Residence hall rates depend on the type of room (multiple occupancy, single or super single), with rates remaining the same as those charged in the previous academic year. Dining rates will remain unchanged from the previous academic year.
Watterson Towers
The Board authorized the replacement of components of the central air distribution system in Watterson Towers, which opened in 1969. The air supply and distribution components have not had system upgrades or major improvements, aside from regular preventative maintenance, since the building opened. The project will include repair and replacement of components that supply and regulate conditioned ventilation air to public spaces on each floor through vertical distribution shafts. Trustees approved a project budget not to exceed $2.4 million, to be paid using housing reserve funding.
As part of the work on air handling systems in Watterson Towers, Trustees authorized a project to enhance the ventilation system to each student room in the facility. The upgrade project will provide new ducts from the vertical shaft source to each student room. The project also provides an opportunity to upgrade the public corridor ceilings on all of the student room floors. Trustees approved a project budget not to exceed $33 million, paid for using housing reserve funding.
Bone Student Center
Trustees also gave approval to improvements to the first- and second-floor concourses of the Bone Student Center. The project will complete the building spaces between the new east and west additions to the first and second floors of the facility with new concourse finishes, upgraded mechanical and electrical components, and new graphic and digital displays for information and wayfinding.
The project scope will also include relocating the Career Center from the Student Services Building to the second floor of the Bone Student Center, moving Tech Zone from the second floor to the first floor, relocating the ISU Credit Union to the first floor from the second, enlarging the Printing Services space, moving the Redbird Card Office from the second floor to the first floor, and renovating the Event Management, Dining, and Hospitality offices for Bone Student Center Operations on the first floor. The $9.5 million project will be paid for through Bone Student Center reserves and agency and institutional funds.
The Board also:
- Authorized a $6 million improvement and renovation of Julian Hall to accommodate the Information Technology Cybersecurity Program. The project will involve renovating the entire first floor of the parking level of Julian to provide for future academic and student programming space needs.
- Authorized the continuation of an agreement for the 2019-2020 academic year with EBSCO Industries, the primary periodicals and electronic databases vendor for Milner Library. The amount will remain at $2.4 million from general revenue, the same the library has paid for the past four fiscal years.
- Approved continuing an agreement with Datatel Ellucian for software support. The five-year services agreement for the period July 1, 2019-June 30, 2024, is not to exceed $1.6 million from general reserves. The cumulative savings of this five-year commitment are in excess of $155,000.
- Extended an agreement with Connect Transit for transportation services until December 2019 to finalize negotiations that will continue to allow all University faculty, staff and students to use their Illinois State University Redbird Card as a bus pass. The extension is not to exceed $277,950.
- Approved the purchase of property located at 402 W. Locust Street for $215,000. The property sits just north of the Bone Student Center Parking lot and is adjacent to the Nursing Simulations Lab as well as University parking areas. The University is evaluating future use for the property.
