Regents to consider modest tuition increases for WSU health sciences and a package of student fee changes

Washington State University officials asked the Finance and Administration Committee to forward several tuition and mandatory fee proposals to the full Board of Regents for action at the next meeting.

Two professional tuition proposals: Daryl DeWald (executive vice president and chancellor, WSU Health Sciences) and college leaders presented a proposed 3.3% tuition increase for the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine for fall 2025. The college solicited student input via a multi‑week Qualtrics survey; presenters said students indicated concern about debt loads but that the college needs modest inflows to cover inflationary costs for community‑based clinical education, preceptor support and student advising. DeWald and Leslie Ranelli noted that a separate $3.6 million biennial request for accreditation needs was not included in either governor’s proposed budget.

A separate action request from the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences asked for a 3.4% increase. The college’s dean told the committee that pharmacy graduates have strong job demand and starting pay but acknowledged student concerns about cost; national average PharmD debt was cited at about $168,000 and the college’s reported average closer to about $140,000.

Student fees, housing and dining: Pullman student leaders described how advisory boards deliberated required fees. Jaylee Urban, student representative on the Residence Hall Association advisory board, said the student board unanimously recommended modest housing rate increases, prioritizing maintenance and upgrades to older residence halls. Grant Picard, chair of the University Recreation Advisory Board, described an approved 5% Chinook (student union) fee recommendation and a student recreation center fee increase (described to the board in dollar terms during deliberations) intended to maintain services and operations. Tania Hendricks, chair of the S&A committee, said Pullman’s S&A committee recommended a 4% increase (the statutory maximum) after reviewing 19 student group funding requests and using reserves to smooth services.

Cougar Health Services and Spokane/Vancouver items: Student health and counseling services were reviewed; Pullman Student Health recommended a small per‑semester increase to sustain counseling, primary care and urgent services. WSU Vancouver flagged student technology and S&A priorities including laptop‑loaner and Wi‑Fi expansion; the campus tech allocation pool shrank relative to prior years because enrollment‑based fee collections declined.

Why it matters: Faculty and administrators emphasized student affordability concerns while noting that many of the requested increases reflect inflationary pressures and operational costs rather than new programs. Several regents pressed for clearer student communication about how tuition and fees are used.

Ending: The committee forwarded the slate of tuition and fee items to the Board of Regents for consideration at the full board meeting scheduled the next day.