Purdue trustees approve continued tuition freeze, 2024 budget
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Purdue University’s Board of Trustees approved a number of measures Friday, including a continuation of the West Lafayette campus’s tuition freeze, the 2024 fiscal year budget, a new agriculture dean and rehabilitation of a university airport runway.
West Lafayette tuition freeze continues
Students will see no increases in tuition for the next two years, meaning the freeze will have lasted for at least 12 years. The decision keeps Hoosier undergraduate tuition under $10,000 a year.
By 2024-25, 10 graduating classes will not see their tuition increase while at school, Purdue said.
Purdue Northwest and Purdue Fort Wayne will see an increase 3% of tuition and fees in each of the next two years, which is lower than the Indiana Commission for Higher Education’s 3.5% recommendation.
2024 budget approval
The trustees approved next year’s budget with revenues “modestly” exceeding expenditures.
The trustees okayed expenditures of $2.537 billion at the West Lafayette campus, $156 million at Purdue Northwest and $149 million at Purdue Fort Wayne.
Systemwide revenue lands at $2.910 billion, a 3% increase credited to enrollment, more state appropriations and athletics. The university said it expects revenue to exceed spending by around $68 million, creating a 2.3% operating surplus.
Major strategic investments focus on the new Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business, enrollment growth and Purdue online.
Faculty and staff merit compensation was set at 4% along with a 1% one-time recognition, reward and retention pool. Purdue Northwest and Purdue Fort Wayne will see 4% and 2.8% increases, respectively.
They also will add to the graduate student stipends line item, making it nearly $20 million.
New agriculture dean
Starting July 15, Bernie Engel will serve as the next Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture.
Engel was chosen after a national search. He has been the senior associate dean of agricultural research and graduate education in the College of Agriculture for four years. He’s been a faculty member at the university for 35 years.
“As dean I will be dedicated to fostering excellence and driving impactful initiatives that align with our mission as a leading public research university and land-grant institution,” Engel said. “I will seek to elevate our reputation as a leading global agricultural college, where groundbreaking research, innovation, student education and stakeholder engagement converge to shape the future of agriculture.”
University airport runway rehabilitation
The university will also begin to plan and make arrangements to repave one of two of Purdue University Airport’s runways, 5/23. A small, unused taxiway will also be eliminated and another relocated.
The runway construction will result in a more distance for aircraft to land and turn.
The Federal Aviation Administration supports the effort and awarded a $3.1 million dollar grant covering most of the project’s $3.6 million price tag. The remainder will be paid by operating fund reserves.
The decision will support students in the School of Aviation and Transportation Technology in Purdue’s Polytechnic Institute as well as its other operations.