Radford will increase in-state tuition by 1.5% for coming year

Radford University will increase in-state tuition by 1.5% for undergraduates for the 2024-2025 academic year. The Board of Visitors unanimously approved the increase Friday, which will increase tuition by $127 to $8,528 annually.

Mandatory comprehensive fees will increase by $135, and room and board will increase by just under $500.

In total, an undergraduate student living in university housing next year will pay $24,608, compared to $23,850 this year.

For graduate students, in-state full-time tuition will increase by $420 to $13,762.

“Tuition and fees is something that we always take very seriously,” said Rector Debra McMahon ahead of the unanimous vote. “We understand the impact that it has on our students and the families of those students.”

Last year , Radford increased tuition by 3%.

Visitor George Mendiola pointed out that the tuition increase is just $127 for in-state undergrads. “At the end of the day, people’s income is based on dollars and not based on percentages,” he said, arguing that a 1.5% increase at Radford would be far less than a similar increase at the University of Virginia or George Mason University. “Not only are we an affordable institution, but even the increases we’re talking about [are] really paying attention to the dollars and cents of the citizens of the Commonwealth and those that are coming to Radford.”

Last year, nearby Virginia Tech increased in-state tuition by 4.9% , making the price tag about $600 higher for undergraduates.

The school is striving to bounce back from a dramatic enrollment decline in recent years.

Under President Bret Danilowicz, who took the role in 2022, the state school has unveiled new branding and a tuition promise program to cover tuition for in-state, undergraduate, in-person students with an adjusted household income of $100,000 or less. The school has also begun to offer guaranteed admissions to freshman applicants with at least a 3.3 grade point average and transfer students with at least a 2.5 GPA.

“We changed so many factors at the same time” that it’s hard to make enrollment comparisons with the previous year, Danilowicz said. He explained that deposits are the best indicator of enrollment, as those students have made a financial commitment to attend. “We don’t know where the numbers will ultimately be until the semester starts, but it’s a positive sign that we’re tracking above the previous year,” he said.

Deposits for 524 new freshmen have been submitted as of the beginning of March, about 25% higher than the same time last year. Out of 10,435 applications for new freshmen, 8,575 have been admitted. More than half of them were direct admission applicants.

Last year, the university saw 11,072 applications for fall 2023 first-time freshmen. Of the 10,036 admitted, 1,103 enrolled.

The school projects total enrollment for the coming academic year to be 3% below prior year levels.

The delayed rollout of the revised federal application for free student aid will likely delay financial aid offers from Radford to new students until sometime in June, said visitor Jennifer Wishon Gilbert, who chairs the enrollment management committee.

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