SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. — Officials with Shepherd University in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle have opted to hold the line on tuition and admission fees for the coming academic year. The university’s Board of Governors in November opted to freeze current tuition and fee rates for the next academic year.
“Whether they are resident students or non-residents of West Virginia and want to come to Shepherd and engage in our programs then we want to do what we can to help make that possible for them,” said Shepherd Vice President for Enrollment Management Bill Summers.
The change reverses a growing trend for higher education institutions nationwide where every year brought a general tuition and fee increase. Summers noted they are trying to keep that from happening so often and fear if it continues many will be completely priced out of higher education.
“We assess this year in and year out, so it’s obviously a decision by our board to do this for the upcoming academic year of ’20-’21, we’ll assess it again for ’21-22.” he said.
Officials say it was an effort to provide financial relief to current student, but also to stay competitive with other institutions in the recruiting process.
“We have to do what we can to maintain affordability. We look at this tuition freeze coupled with financial aid and scholarships we offer as a great opportunity for not only current students, but students who are in the selection process for the upcoming fall,” he said.
The freeze does not apply to other fees, like room and board. According to Summers, those are still under evaluation and will be decided at a later date.