Tuition at the University of Mississippi will increase for the 2024-2025 school year with a cost of $9,612 for in-state students, and $28,440 for out-of-state students.
Compared to last year, this is a $360 increase for in-state students and a $1,620 increase for out-of-state students. The 2024-25 tuition rates were approved May 16 by the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees, the governing body for the University of Mississippi.
Jim Zook, vice chancellor for marketing and communications, explained that tuition rates are set based on providing good value for students and generating enough value to have ample resources for students.
Zook also explained that UM’s tuition increase has been kept below U.S. inflation rates to ensure tuition is not increasing at an unreasonable pace.
In the United States, the average inflation rate was 8.0% in 2022 and 4.7% in 2023. In comparison, undergraduate tuition rose by just 1.9% from 2022-23 to 2023-24.
For students looking to attend the university, tuition ranks high among their concerns. Freshman Jasmine Taylor, a computer science major, explained how tuition was a main factor in her decision to attend UM.
“Tuition was one of the most major concerns when going through college options,” Taylor said. “Knowing I come from a low-income household, choosing a college that was affordable was the only option for me. Anything outside of Mississippi would’ve been too expensive and too risky.”
Graduate students, excluding MBA and law school students, share the same tuition fee for the 2024-25 year as undergraduate students. IMC graduate student and Mississippi native Jaydan Ray also attends Ole Miss due to the low tuition.
“I always thought I had a financial mindset,” Ray said. “I never planned on going somewhere where I would have to pay out-of-state tuition. I’m also a homebody, and I like to be close to my family, so I’m used to looking at schools in Mississippi.”
Despite efforts to keep the cost low, several students still struggle to pay tuition.
“I have had friends that struggle to pay their tuition,” Alyssa Garcia, a sophomore allied health studies major, said. “Most pull out loans to cover what work study, financial aid and scholarships will not cover. A very few have withdrawn from the institution because of the raise of tuition and not being able to afford it.”
Junior Hayden Peek, a psychology major, works several jobs to pay for tuition despite being a recipient of the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Scholarship.
“My partner and her roommates are also on (the Phi Theta Kappa Scholarship), but they have to work, too,” Peek said. “They have to have two jobs just for living and paying for tuition here. It’s pretty intense. I know a lot of people that had to get two jobs over the summer for that reason.”
MBA and law students also share similar struggles.
In-state MBA students are projected to pay $17,604 in tuition for the 2024-25 year and out-of-state MBA students will pay $39,402. In-state law school students have a rate of $19,220, and out-of-state students law have a rate of $41,500.
Landry Sutton, a former MBA student, expressed his concerns about the increasing tuition rates.
“It makes me wonder if I could still afford to be a student here,” Sutton said. “I’m going to law school at another university, but their tuition is going up as well next year, so that’s something I’m thinking about.”
Kennedy Barker, a graduate IMC student, spoke about her friends struggling to afford the cost of attendance.
“I definitely have a lot of friends that have taken out a few loans and have been scrounging for scholarships all throughout college,” Barker said. “But I think that is the norm, and it sucks that that’s the norm now at every school.”
For Mississippi, Barker’s statement seems to hold true. Excluding Delta State, all public universities face tuition increases for the upcoming year, according to the Mississippi IHL Board of Trustees Board Book released on June 20. The average increase for in-state tuition was 3.1%, while out-of-state tuition was slightly higher at 4.2%.
While many are concerned, Ray said that, no matter the increase, students will find a way to attend Ole Miss.
“I really don’t think it’s going to play that big of a role in it,” Ray said. “People are going to find a way to go to school if they want to, and Ole Miss is very high in demand.”
Taylor affirmed Ray’s sentiment.
“It’s definitely a price that I’m willing to pay in order to continue going to a university,” Taylor said. “In the end, if (the summer job) wasn’t enough, I would have to depend on student loans again. Ultimately, this will set me deeper in student loans, but it’s a price I’m willing to pay in order to be the first in my family to graduate from college.”
