Rutgers 6% Tuition Hike Gets Approved, Board Cites Rising Labor Costs

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ - Tuition and fees at Rutgers are set to increase by 6 percent next year following approval from the university’s board of governors Monday.

Tuition for full-time arts and sciences undergraduates will rise by $387 from $6,450 per semester to $6,837, the university said in a statement. Fees, which vary by program and by student, are slated to increase by roughly $200 per year; meal plans will also increase by 7 percent and on-campus housing will rise by 5 percent.

The price tag hike is nearly double the approved increase for the 2022-2023 school year, which saw an increase of 2.9 percent, according to an archived university webpage.

“This budget ensures that Rutgers will continue to provide our students with exceptional academic, research and public service opportunities as they pursue their education and engage in civic life,” Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway said in a statement.

77 percent of the $5.4 billion budget for 2023-2024 will be spent on the university’s core mission, university officials said, with 33 percent going toward academic instruction and support; 32 percent on student scholarships, financial aid and services, public service, extension and patient care and 12 percent on research.

The budget also allocates $159 million, or 3 percent, on athletics.

Rutgers officials cited inflation, rising salaries and wages and “sharp increases” in utilities and commodities and employee benefits - including health insurance premiums and pension contributions - as reasons for the cost increase for students.

“Health insurance and pension costs for the university’s 20,000 benefit-eligible employees saw dramatic and unprecedented one-year increases this year,” reads a news release from the university announcing the budget approval. “In fact, state health benefit costs increased by more than 22 percent in November 2022. Compounding the financial difficulty, the increase was imposed retroactively, and presented the university with an unanticipated $48 million cost.”

In its remarks to stakeholders, the university also said its new labor contract with the faculty union, which came about after the faculty’s first-ever strike in May 2023, increases labor costs by 8 percent in the first two years and will increase again by a “similar amount” in the last two years of the four-year agreement.

"We are committed to providing access to an excellent academic experience and this budget advances that pledge while meeting our financial responsibilities during a very challenging time,” said William E. Best, chair of the Rutgers Board of Governors. “We remain equally committed to strengthening financial aid programs that reduce net costs for a majority of our students.”