The South Dakota Board of Regents has agreed to freeze tuition at the state’s six public universities for the next year, thanks to an $8.6-million increase in base funding from this year’s just-ended legislative session.
The money is meant to cover raises for university faculty and staff as part of a plan to give all state employees a 6% raise.
Before this, the state covered less than half of the salary and benefit package for employees in the university system, which forced tuition, fees, and other charges to go up to cover the difference.
Regents Executive Director and CEO Brian Maher says the increase in base general funds is “a major step forward” as the university system continues to address the costs of higher education and ways to keep the schools affordable for students.
Maher says 2022 was “truly a remarkable year for public higher education in South Dakota” because of another $120-million dollars coming from the legislature, mostly from the federal COVID and infrastructure stimulus programs
The university system also got the authority to spend another $166-million dollars in donated and other funds for capital projects, and repealed a requirement for higher, off-campu tuition rates for the college centers in Rapid City and Sioux Falls.