The archway in front of Southern Oregon University's Churchill Hall in an undated provided image.
Jane Vaughan / JPR
Southern Oregon University has again raised tuition to the maximum allowed before the state must approve it. Total tuition and fees for in-state undergraduate students will increase by just under 5% next year.
The university has been struggling to address its financial situation. University leadership points to declining enrollment, rising costs and limited state support as the causes of the shortfalls.
SOU is losing money on each additional student, Trustee Liz Shelby said, meaning neither budget cuts nor enrollment growth alone will solve the problem.
“We can’t cut ourselves out of it,” Shelby said. “We have to find the right combination of a number of different solutions.”
Shelby added that several academic programs at SOU are serving fewer students, and a review is needed to determine which programs are financially viable.
The university is developing a financial plan with outside consultants from Deloitte. A draft is expected at the end of the month, with final approval required by mid-May. The plan is a condition of receiving $15 million from the state.
Deloitte is scheduled to present the draft plan publicly in a virtual meeting May 4 or 5, and to the board May 5, when campus leaders are expected to weigh in.
Trustees also received an update on a marketing initiative aimed at increasing enrollment. Benton Brown of EAB, an enrollment management firm working with the university, said prospective student engagement is shifting and the university must adapt.
EAB plans to assess the university’s goals this spring, with outreach to prospective students expected to begin by August. Brown said the firm’s university partners see an average 21% increase in applications in the first year.
JPR is licensed to Southern Oregon University, but our newsroom operates independently. Guided by our journalistic standards and ethics, we cover the university like any other organization in the region. No university official reviewed or edited this story before it was published.
Roman Battaglia is a reporter with Jefferson Public Radio. This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
It is part of OPB’s broader effort to ensure that everyone in our region has access to quality journalism that informs, entertains and enriches their lives. To learn more, visit our journalism partnerships page.
