At the Sept. 6 Board of Trustees meeting, Kelli Shomaker, Auburn University senior vice president for business and administration and chief financial officer, requested the board’s approval of Auburn University’s 2025 budget and tuition. Shomaker announced a three percent increase in tuition for all Auburn University system campuses and dining and housing on the main campus.
The increase in both tuition and budget is standard but excludes scholarship increases.
Students paid approximately $12,890 for in-state tuition and approximately $34,922 for out-of-state tuition in fall 2024.
Annual in-state tuition and student service fees for Auburn University’s main campus for undergraduates will be $13,268 and graduates will be $13,256. Out-of-state undergraduates will pay $35,972 and graduates will pay $35,936 annually.
For 2025, in-state undergraduates will pay $473 per credit hour and non-resident undergraduates will pay $1,419 per credit hour. Student service fees for all students are $958 per semester.
Auburn University in Montgomery students can also expect an increase in tuition rates. Resident undergraduate annual tuition and fees is $12,298, and non-resident annual tuition and fees is $26,428.
Dining has three plans: Orange, Blue and White. The Orange Plan, which includes five weekly meal swipes and $450 in dining dollars, will cost $1,530. The Blue Plan will cost $1,020 and the White Plan will remain $425.
According to Shomaker, the increase will support continuity of staffing in all dining facilities, keep food quality and consistency high and to prevent the need for larger market adjustments that are jarring for consumers.
Shomaker also announced the 2025 budget to be $1.85 billion for the entire university. The main campus uses 85.9%, or $1.588 million, of the budget. The university's operating budget for the next fiscal year starts Oct. 1, 2024, and will end Sept. 30, 2025.
Other budget allocations include Auburn University in Montgomery, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station.
· AUM: 6.5% or $120 million
· ACES: 4.1% or $76.4 million
· AAES: 3.5% or $64.7 million
Tuition and fees cover 42.5% of the budget, with 21% from state appropriations, 15.1% from restricted revenues, 13.7% from auxiliary Revenues, 5.5% from miscellaneous revenue and 2.2% from sales and services covering the rest.
Compared to the 2024 fiscal year budget, tuition and fees increased its coverage from $739.4 million to $785.5 million. State appropriations increased from $362.3 million to $389.2 million.
The total breakdown of the budget payout includes parts for salaries and wages; employee benefits; operations and maintenance; student aid; debt service; repairs and renovations; and NET MEF/central allocations.
· Salaries & wages: $748.1 million
· Employee benefits: $202.7 million
· Operations & maintenance: $549.1 million
· Student aid: $239.3 million
· Debt service: $80.1 million
· Repairs & renovations: $16.7 million
· NET/MEF central allocations: $13.9 million
The next Board of Trustees meeting will be held on Nov. 15 at The Hotel at Auburn University & Dixon Conference Center from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
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Michaela Yielding is a senior in journalism currently serving as the news editor. She has been with The Auburn Plainsman since fall 2023.
