Auburn University Announces 2025 Budget, Tuition Increase

At the September 6 Board of Trustees meeting, Kelli Shomaker, Auburn University’s senior vice president for business and administration and chief financial officer, asked the Board of Trustees to approve Auburn University’s 2025 budget and tuition. Shomaker announced a three percent increase in tuition for all Auburn University System campuses as well as for meals and lodging on the main campus.

The increase in tuition fees and budget is standard but excludes increases in scholarships.

Students paid about $12,890 for in-state tuition and about $34,922 for out-of-state tuition in fall 2024.

Annual tuition and student service fees for Auburn University’s main campus will be $13,268 for undergraduates and $13,256 for graduates. Out-of-state undergraduates will pay $35,972 and graduates $35,936 per year.

For 2025, in-state undergraduates will pay $473 per credit hour and nonresident undergraduates will pay $1,419 per credit hour. The student service fee for all students is $958 per semester.

Auburn University at Montgomery students can also expect a tuition increase. The annual tuition for resident undergraduates is $12,298, and the annual tuition for nonresidents is $26,428.

Dining is offering three plans: Orange, Blue and White. The Orange plan, which includes five weekly meals and $450 in dining dollars, will cost $1,530. The Blue plan will cost $1,020 and the White plan will remain at $425.

According to Shomaker, this increase will help maintain staff continuity across all food service locations, maintain high food quality and consistency, and avoid the need for larger market adjustments that are destabilizing to consumers.

Shomaker also announced that the 2025 budget will be $1.85 billion for the entire university. The main campus uses 85.9 percent, or $1.588 million, of the budget. The university’s operating budget for the next fiscal year will begin Oct. 1, 2024, and end Sept. 30, 2025.

Other budget allocations include Auburn University at Montgomery, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station.

· AUM: 6.5% or $120 million

· ACES: 4.1% or $76.4 million

· AAES: 3.5% or $64.7 million

Tuition and registration fees cover 42.5% of the budget, of which 21% comes from state appropriations, 15.1% from restricted revenue, 13.7% from auxiliary revenue, 5.5% from miscellaneous revenue and 2.2% from sales and services covering the remainder.

Compared to the fiscal year 2024 budget, tuition and fees increased from $739.4 million to $785.5 million. State appropriations increased from $362.3 million to $389.2 million.

The total budget breakdown includes portions for salaries and wages, employee benefits, operations and maintenance, student assistance, debt service, repairs and renovations, and net MEF/central allocations.

· Salaries and wages: $748.1 million

· Benefits: $202.7 million