BGSU sets fall 2018 rates for its new Falcon Tuition Guarantee

At its May 4 meeting, the Bowling Green State University Board of Trustees took action to lock in costs for incoming undergraduates with its new Falcon Tuition Guarantee, enabling students and their parents to better plan their four-year educational costs.

BGSU will implement the Falcon Tuition Guarantee in fall 2018. For the first time since fall 2013, the University will raise tuition and general fees for incoming, first-time undergraduates, but those costs will be frozen for four years, and students will pay the same amount each year during their undergraduate careers.

The board approved a 5.9 percent increase in tuition and general fees for incoming, in-state undergraduate students on the Bowling Green campus. This represents a $315 increase per semester for students taking 12-18 credit hours. BGSU Firelands does not fall under the undergraduate tuition plan.

Tuition and fees will also be stabilized for students who are in five-year programs, such as those that require one or more co-ops or internships. The tuition guarantee applies to all incoming undergraduates beginning fall of 2018, regardless of their status as full or part time, and covers fall and spring semesters.

Under Ohio’s current biennial budget, students who are already enrolled at BGSU, while not part of the Falcon Tuition Guarantee, will continue to pay the same tuition and general fees as they do today, so there will be no increase for them for the 2018-2019 academic year. This will not change until and if the state again allows increases for public universities and the board enacts changes.

Fees for some high-cost programs, such as aviation and study abroad, are not covered by the tuition guarantee and may change as needed in coming years.

Also increasing this fall for the first time in several years will be the out-of-state student surcharge for both undergraduate and graduate students, which will rise by 6 percent on the Bowling Green and BGSU Firelands campuses. Except for a small increase in 2016, BGSU had not raised the surcharge since before 2011.

No tuition increase is planned for distance and eCampus courses.

“At BGSU we have continually strived to keep our educational costs affordable for our students,” President Rodney Rogers said. “The Falcon Tuition Guarantee will not only allow families to budget with confidence but will also enable us to continue providing the same high-quality education experience for our students that is the hallmark of a BGSU education. A Bowling Green State University education remains a great value and prepares students to enter the workforce with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed.”

Ohio House Bill 59, enacted in 2013, allows Ohio public university boards of trustees to establish rules governing tuition guarantee programs. Those who adopt such programs are allowed to increase tuition by a percentage set by the state. BGSU is one of several universities across Ohio that are now offering a tuition guarantee. BGSU trustees approved the guarantee plan at their Dec. 8, 2017, meeting. In future, tuition and fees will be established for each succeeding cohort of undergraduates, and will be locked in for their respective four-year programs.