Auburn University Board of Trustees raises tuition 3% for 2025-26 school year

William J. Samford Hall at Auburn University rises behind an Auburn University sign on August 14, 2023 in Auburn, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)

The Auburn University Board of Trustees Friday approved a 3% increase in tuition for the 2025-26 school year. 

Under the new tuition and fee structure, Auburn undergraduates will pay $473 per credit hour and $13,268 in total annual tuition and fees. An out-of-state undergraduate will pay $1,419 per credit hour and $35,972 in total annual tuition and fees.

Undergraduate students at Auburn University Montgomery (AUM) will pay $379 per credit hour and $12,298 total in annual tuition and fees. Out-of-state AUM students will pay $850 per credit hour and $26,428 for a full-time year.

The board also approved 3% increases to the costs of housing and an increase to dining plans at Auburn’s main campus.

Tuition totals are based on 12 semester hours for undergraduates, according to the slideshow.

Kelli Shomaker, senior vice president for business and administration and the chief financial officer, cited inflation, labor pressures and lingering impacts of the pandemic, although she did not cite specifics about the pandemic, for the increase to the Finance Committee.

The Auburn University System is slated to receive $389 million this year from the state’s Education Trust Fund budget, about $27 million  (7.45%) more than in fiscal year 2024. 

“As incredible as that increase is, and it is truly incredible, state appropriations alone will not cover the rising financial operating costs of the university,” she said.

Auburn’s total 2025 budget is $1.85 billion. $1.589 billion will go to the main campus. $120 million will towards AUM.

Tuition and fees make 42.5% of the university’s revenue, according to officials. State appropriations make up 21%.

Salaries and wages are 40.4% expenses of the total budget.

The Board of Trustees’ Finance Committee approved the increases earlier on Friday.

The dining rates will be $1,530 per semester for the Orange Plan (first-time and first-year students); $1,020 for the Blue Plan (sophomores and above living on campus) and $425 for the White Plan (sophomores and above living off-campus) for 2025-26. AUM did not receive a housing or dining increase.

The board approved a 3% tuition increase in August 2023.

Tuition and fees for 2024-25 for Auburn undergraduate resident students are $6,445 and $17,461 for non-resident students per semester. Tuition and fees for 2024-25 AUM undergraduate resident students are $368 per credit hour and $825 per credit hour undergraduate nonresident.