WESTFIELD –Students attending Westfield State College will see a “modest” increase to the cost of their education after a vote by the institution’s trustees at their June meeting increased the amount of mandatory fees charged to the students.
University president Evan S. Dobelle said that, even after the increase, “Westfield State remains the best value in the state university system, with the most relevant programs and the lowest cost of any of the state universities.”
The trustees were able to keep the tuition rate the same as it has been since 2009 but the mandatory fees, which have increased every year since 2009, were again increased.
The tuition for Massachusetts residents remains at $970 annually while students from outside the Commonwealth, and from outside the nation, will continue to pay $7,050 per year. Tuition for students who live in another New England state, but wish to enroll in a program offered at WSU which is not offered at a public college or university in their home state, will remain at $1,455 per year.
The compulsory fee increase that the students will see in the fall is due to a $411 (5.9 percent) rise in the mandatory fees that students pay to cover some of the indirect costs of a college education.
The trustees approved a continuation of a $100 capital improvement fee which was initiated in 2012 to offset the cost s of a new and as yet unnamed residential hall on the Western Avenue campus.
The general fee, which covers the difference between the state appropriation and the actual cost for expenses, such as instructional, personnel, athletics, student life, facilities and operations costs, was increased $405 to $5,514.
A $6 increase in the student activity fee brings the total fee increase to $411.
A technology fee of $1,600 was not changed.
Students who utilize the university’s residential options and those who eat in the dining commons will also see increased costs.
The residential housing rates were increased in amounts ranging from 2.9 percent to 3.9 percent for the different housing choices.
Students who elect to live in Courtney Hall or other dormitories will see the smallest increase at $150 per year, while the largest increase, $250 per year, will be applied to students who elect to live in university apartments or the newest dormitory.
Students who choose one of the meal plans offered at the university dining commons will see a cost increase of about 3.3 percent.
Fees for some optional services will also see an increase.
The cost of student health insurance will increase by $124, about 10 percent.
Those who utilize at the wellness center at the school will see the costs for that service jump considerably with a change from a $40 annual fee to an annual charge of $185.
Molly Watson, the spokeswoman for the university, called the change “a modest increase.”
She said that the increase is the smallest imposed in the last four years and said that it “is the lowest of the six state universities,” if the costs at the three specialty schools are excluded from consideration.
