The university’s Board of Trustees is nearing deliberation on the new cost of an SIU education.

During their Feb. 13 meeting, the trustees will discuss a potential 3 percent increase, or $252, in tuition and an overall tuition and fees increase of 3 percent, or $338.36, according to trustee documents. Officials are asking for a significantly lower increase in tuition and fees at this juncture than they did before fiscal year 2014, when Chancellor Rita Cheng recommended a 5 percent increase.

Significant increases in yearly fees include the proposed $18 Student Media Fee, an $18 increase in the Intercollegiate Athletic Fee and a $16 increase in the Student Center Fee.

Advertisement

The 5 percent increase was debated during the trustees’ May 9 meeting, during which the increase was dropped to 3 percent after a 5-2 vote. Trustee Marquita Wiley and former SIU-Edwardsville student trustee David Hamilton voted against the change.

The Feb. 13 meeting is the first of three when trustees can deliberate the increases, a change from last year when only two meetings were scheduled. However, neither meeing happened because the board failed to meet quorum, and trustees voted on the increases during their first public meeting of the semester.

The trustees meet Feb. 13 in Edwardsville, April 10 in Carbondale and May 8 in Edwardsville, where they will make the final vote.

University President Glenn Poshard did not return a request for comment before press time.