Purdue University says it will increase financial aid to certain students to offset this year’s tuition increase.
The higher financial aid will cover the tuition increase this year and next for students who qualify for both federal
and state aid. Purdue is also using federal stimulus money to give Indiana undergraduate students a $250 rebate next year
— covering half of a new $500 student fee. The rebate is in addition to a previously announced rebate that covers the
$500 fee for in-state students this year.
"This is one more step we are able to take to ensure that a Purdue
degree remains accessible and affordable," said Purdue President France Cordova. The increased aid and rebates will
cost Purdue about $6 million over two years.
State Sen. Luke Kenley, a Republican from Noblesville who chairs
the State Budget Committee, has been pressuring Purdue to reduce its 5-percent tuition increase. He withheld budget committee
approval for Purdue capital projects while waiting for Purdue officials to create a plan to make the school more affordable.
Kenley said parents and in-state students wanted Purdue to do more, but university officials wanted to give less.
"In the end, we struck the best deal we could for the short term to try to balance the need for world-class
universities and affordable higher education for Hoosiers," Kenley said. "More important than that, we applied the
brakes to skyrocketing tuition and began what will likely be an ongoing dialogue among state lawmakers and state universities."
Kenley also had threatened to delay Indiana University construction projects if IU officials didn’t do something
about a 4.6-percent tuition hike this year and a 4.8-percent increase next year at the Bloomington school. Kenley later allowed
two time-sensitive projects to move forward after school officials came up with a plan to allow in-state undergraduate students
to earn money off tuition bills if they get good grades.
Kenley said more long-term scrutiny is needed regarding
college accessibility and affordability.
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