Illinois State University has approved a 15% increase in tuition for certain majors. The decision was passed by the Board of Trustees nearly a year ago, and went into effect Fall 2024 — the start of the academic year. There are understandably mixed opinions and feelings about this tuition fee change, and even the trustees who voted in favor say this was a difficult, yet necessary, decision to make.

Affected majors by the increase include: the Mennonite College of Nursing, College of Business, the College of Engineering as well as computer science and cybersecurity majors.

More money

Looking at tuition for the different types of majors in college reveals a quite expensive process. Each kind of major results in a different cost. To put the 15% increase into perspective, students are now paying $60 more than they were before per credit hour. Since the credit hour rates have increased, students now pay $134 instead of the original $117 per hour, according to Illinois State University. For example, if we’re comparing a major in teaching and a major in engineering, teaching gives a lower paying career. Engineering usually provides for a higher salary. It’s good to pay more money for higher-paying jobs because it requires higher and more complex education for certain subjects. Also, if the majors are expensive, you can expect the equipment in that field of study to be high quality.

Yes, having each major with different tuition fees is good, but not everybody can major in engineering and/or get a more popular and hard-to-apply-for job. Besides, then there’d be better quality of education for the more impacted majors.

However, there are significant problems to this approach. Programs like nursing, computer science, and engineering, which generally offer higher-paying job opportunities, may become less accessible to students from a lower-income background because of the new tuition increase. This creates an excessive amount of obstacles for students who want to build a better future through education. This can lead to a less diverse community helping sustain social and economic divides.

Delicate balance

Increases in tuition could aggravate the already existing hierarchy among the majors, where the cost of your major correlates to its value or importance, possibly causing conflict between students. While the differentiated tuition fees assures quality education, it introduces difficulties of accessibility and social equality.

With this new price change, lots of students will be affected, for better or for worse. There is certainly controversy; but this is also a new concept. The college must also take into perspective how this will affect future generations. With the country already struggling to send students to college, this is just another unwanted and unneeded expense added to American families.

No matter what, there will be benefits and disadvantages to decisions like this, and it is the college’s job to choose what will be more beneficial for the students in the present and long term.

— By Amelie Egan, Ammini Guzzardo, Ayeza Hamid, Lea Lagache, and Emelia Stevenson