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After six hours of presentations and deliberations Friday, Utah’s higher education board approved tuition increases for all eight public colleges and universities.

Combined, that amounts to an average 2.82% hike — lower than the 2.96% schools requested, but slightly higher than the 2.23% approved last year.

The modest increases come as Utah’s political leaders have grown increasingly wary about the exploding expenses of higher education, including how administrative costs are passed onto students.

The changes are set to take effect this fall semester. That’s after lawmakers slashed $60.5 million in a budget cut and reallocation process last year and cut an $10 million from the higher education budget this year.

Snow College saw the highest percent change with a tuition-and-fee increase of 3.53%; it’s the smallest and cheapest school in the state.

Utah State University saw the biggest bump in actual tuition dollars added, with the average student now owing $440.45 more each year.

The University of Utah remains the highest-priced school in the state at roughly $11,165 per year.

The board did not approve the full asks for two schools: Utah State and Utah Tech University.

“We want to have full-throated discussions on all of these things,” said Utah’s higher education Commissioner Geoff Landward, who pointed to frustration from state leaders that previous requests were rubber-stamped without much discussion.

Here are the latest changes, in order of the highest combined cost to the lowest.

University of Utah

• Tuition increase: 3.5%, or $340.57 more per year.

• Additional fee changes: Fees will decrease by $23.89, for a total of $1,085.59 per year.

• New combined total for average in-state student: 2.92% increase overall, for $11,165.16 per year.

The state’s flagship university continues to be the most expensive public institution to attend in the state. But this year, it was among those with the lowest overall percentage increases to tuition and fees.

President Taylor Randall said the Salt Lake City school is focused on affordability and remaining the lowest cost among its peer research universities.

Each year, the Utah Legislature designates 75% of the funds needed for mandated raises, meant to offset inflation for state university and college employees. Schools are expected to cover the rest with tuition, as well as the cost of any faculty promotions.

Most of the money from the tuition bump will go toward that, Randall noted, particularly “trying to bring folks up” to fair wages in science and engineering.

The U. also got approval for increased tuition at differential rates in the business creation, educational psychology and athletic training graduate programs. That’s because the cost associated with teaching those curriculums is higher.

The U.’s student government moved to decrease overall fees by nearly $24, which reduced what students pay to access computers on campus.

Utah State University

• Tuition increase: 5.63%, or $440.45 more per year.

• Additional fee changes: Fees will decrease by $155.05, for a total of $793.10 per year for students at the main Logan campus.

• New combined total for average in-state student: 3.25% increase overall, for $9,064.55 per year.

Utah State University moved its technology and library fees into tuition. The state has previously instructed schools to do so when a fee provides a benefit to all students and goes toward a necessary service, such as counseling.

That led to an overall decrease in fees but a higher percentage increase in tuition.

New USU President Brad Mortensen also wanted to increase fees for both athletics (by $59.44 per student each year) and campus recreation (by $20.92 per year), but didn’t receive board approval.

Instead, board members approved a $9.91 increase for athletics and a $8 increase for campus recreation.

Mortensen said the hope with the extra money to figure out how to navigate the increasingly complex funding landscape for college sports. He had proposed the increase as a one-time fee while USU moves into the Pac-12 conference.

The school needs time to come up with the money in other ways, he said, including through fundraising, increased ticket prices and sponsorships. It may rent out its facilities for concerts.

The Utah Board of Higher Education said those options should be tried before pushing the cost onto students.

Meanwhile, USU is also working to start differential tuition rates for associate and bachelor’s degrees. Already, its Price, Moab and Blanding campuses offer cheaper tuition for students in two-year programs.

But its Uintah Basin, Tooele, Brigham City, Wasatch and Southwest campuses don’t. So Mortensen moved to freeze tuition rates for students with less than 65 credits at those locations this year in a process to get those costs lower overall with time.

Southern Utah University

• Tuition increase: 2.5%, or $161.52 more per year.

• Additional fee changes: Fees will increase by $14, for a total of $652 per year.

• New combined total for average in-state student: 2.47% increase overall, for $7,269.52 per year.

The Cedar City school did not increase tuition for five academic years, from fall 2019 through spring 2024.

But now, SUU President Mindy Benson said, more money is needed. She proposed a tuition bump to cover expanded artificial intelligence on campus, student wage increases and rising health care costs.

“We will remain affordable,” she vowed.

The school received approval for one differential tuition rate increase for its master of business administration program, which Benson said has seen an 862% increase in enrollment in recent years.

Weber State University

• Tuition increase: 2.99%, or $176.70 more per year for students with more than 60 credit hours of classes completed. There is no tuition increase for students with fewer than 60 credit hours completed.

• Additional fee changes: Fees will increase by $22.84, for a total of $811.64 per year for all students.

• New combined total for average in-state student: 2.98% increase overall, for $6,892.38 per year for students with more than 60 credit hours completed. And 0.35% increase overall, for $6,579.84 per year for students with fewer than 60 credit hours completed.

Like USU, Weber State serves students getting two-year associate degrees and standard four-year bachelor’s degrees. Last year, the Ogden school split the tuition rates for those, hoping to ultimately have associate degrees cost less per class credit.

That continued this year, with no tuition increase for students with fewer than 60 credit hours of classes completed. That comes after the Utah Legislature this year allocated $1 million ongoing to that effort.

“We’re grateful for legislative support that allowed us to do that,” said interim Weber President Leslie Durham. “… We know that affordability is part of what lifts our students up.”

The extra money raised with the tuition increase for upper-division students, she added, will help cover the increasing costs for fuel and power — an ongoing need even on a campus “thoroughly dedicated to sustainability.”

Tuition dollars will additionally fund pay increases for staff who aren’t covered by state appropriations, plus enhanced data privacy.

The board initially questioned if it should approve a $13 per student annual fee increase for activities. Members ultimately supported it after hearing from Weber’s student body president, Mia Foster, who explained that most of it will go toward stocking the school’s food pantries.

“We have seen a huge need across the board of students needing extra help,” she said.

Utah Valley University

• Tuition increase: 3.13%, or $188.02 more per year.

• Additional fee changes: Fees will increase by $10.72, for a total of $669.09 per year.

• New combined total for average in-state student: 2.98% increase overall, for $6,873.11 per year.

Utah Board of Higher Education Chair Amanda Covington acknowledged that UVU has “had a very complicated year.”

And that complicated year was behind the requests for increased fees, said student body president Kyle Cullimore.

Since the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk roiled the Orem campus last fall, Cullimore said students have wanted more support and there’s been a “big increase in students trying to find community.”

Many have attended campus theater productions or joined other events, for instance. To accommodate that, the school asked for a $1 increase for the arts and $4.02 more for student programs per student each year.

Some of the money will go toward providing more security for larger events, he said.

About $1 million from the tuition increase will similarly be put toward increasing cybersecurity costs on campus, said Provost Wayne Vaught, who is set to take over as acting president on May 1, when President Astrid Tuminez steps down.

Utah Tech University

• Tuition increase: 4.36%, or $242.78 more per year.

• Additional fee changes: Fees will decrease by $61.50, for a total of $852 per year.

• New combined total for average in-state student: 2.8% increase overall, for $6,663.08 per year.

Utah Tech moved fees for student leadership and wellness into tuition this year, making it seem like a bigger increase than 2025. But overall, its percentage jump was the same.

President Shane Smeed said the school wants to keep its price tag low but still “attract and retain the necessary talent” to teach classes. As such, the St. George school will spend $252,000 collected from increased tuition to pay for faculty rank advancements.

The university had originally sought more in fees ($4) to support new uniforms and equipment for its student band; the board approved a $1 increase.

Meanwhile, though some expressed hesitancy, the board did support a $44 fee increase to help pay for a new student union building. That’s on top of a $44 increase approved last year. Now, that fee is $142 per student each year.

The current building, constructed in 1994, has become outdated. But Utah Tech hasn’t been able to come up with the $75 million to replace it.

Board members questioned why current students are paying for a union they likely won’t get to use. (Construction isn’t expected to start until 2031.)

Shellsea Ramirez Fuentes, Utah Tech’s student body president, said it’s a project students have pride in paying for — they want it to be their legacy.

Additionally, the school received approval for differential tuition rates for two graduate programs: one in artificial intelligence that’s entirely online and another on the science of genomics.

Salt Lake Community College

• Tuition increase: 2.32%, or $96.09 more per year.

• Additional fee changes: Fees will increase by $9, for a total of $415 per year.

• New combined total for average in-state student: 2.31% increase overall, for $4,648.09 per year.

Salt Lake Community College got a green light to increase its child care fee by $1 per student each year. President Greg Peterson said it’s a service the school is “very proud” to offer from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays.

SLCC has the most non-traditional students, including parents, of any public college in the state.

Roena Mae Delfin, the student body president, said she was also excited to nab a $1 increase for student center operations and a $4 increase for student engagement. That money will also help the school offer more food at its pantries.

Meanwhile, the school reduced the fee students pay to help cover building bonds after construction costs came in lower than expected.

Snow College

• Tuition increase: 4.02%, or $161.11 more per year.

• Additional fee changes: Fees will decrease by $5.50, for a total of $402.50 per year.

• New combined total for average in-state student: 3.53% increase overall, for $4,594.50 per year.

President Stacee McIff noted the small, rural school in central Utah offers the state’s lowest tuition, which makes its significant percentage-point increase look disproportionate.

The school also decreased fees by moving student insurance costs into tuition.

“We wanted to make sure that we keep tuition as low as possible,” McIff said.

All of the money raised through the tuition bump, she added, will go to faculty compensation.