SVSU Board approves modest tuition increase of 3.9 percent

The Saginaw Valley State University Board of Control approved a tuition increase that is less than half the current rate of inflation during the Board's regular meeting Monday, June 20.

For the upcoming 2022-23 academic year, a Michigan undergraduate student taking 30 credits will pay $11,565, an increase of  $435 over the prior year (3.9 percent). 

In May, the U.S. consumer price index stood at 8.6 percent. SVSU’s tuition remains the lowest among Michigan’s public universities.

“We understand many students and families have not fully recovered financially from the pandemic and any tuition increase is challenging for them,” said Donald Bachand, SVSU president. “We also are getting hit with price increases just like everybody else, and we must maintain our standards for high quality teaching and learning, so that our students are prepared for careers in their chosen fields.

“We hear from employers every day who are counting on us to prepare highly qualified graduates, so we have taken steps to keep an SVSU degree within reach financially. We increased tuition just 2.9 percent last year and we froze it the year before that. We have made significant investments to the scholarships and financial aid we offer, and we have increased private giving from donors to fund scholarship support.”

In other action, the Board approved spending up to $925,000 for repairs to campus walkways, roads and parking lots.

The Board also approved a series of faculty promotions, including 12 faculty promoted to the rank of professor:

•           Meghan Baruth, health sciences

•           Marie Cassar, psychology

•           Kyle Cissell, chemistry

•           Warren Fincher, sociology

•           Ellen Herlache-Pretzer, occupational therapy

•           Jaime Huffman, nursing

•           Rhett Mohler, geography

•           Rajani Muraleedharan Sreekumarid, electrical & computer engineering

•           Annamalai Pandian, mechanical engineering

•           Jean Prast, occupational therapy

•           Jason Scott, biology

•           Yu Zou, electrical & computer engineering

Ten faculty were promoted to associate professor:

•           Julie Commerford, geography

•           Michael Coote, chemistry

•           Mohammad Khan, electrical & computer engineering

•           Sandun Kuruppu, electrical & computer engineering

•           Monayem Mazumder, mechanical engineering

•           Grace McClurkin, mathematical sciences

•           Margaret “Peggy” Mead-Finizio, theatre

•           Hillary Mellema, marketing

•           Kevin Meyer, economics

•           Luke Voegel, management