Winthrop University students will pay more in tuition, fees in 2017-18

Students from South Carolina will need to pay nearly $200 more in tuition to attend Rock Hill’s Winthrop University this year following a modest fee increase approved by the school’s trustees Friday afternoon.

The trustees approved a 2.48 percent tuition fee increase that will cost in-state undergraduate students $180 more for next semester and out-of-state undergraduate students about $348 more, starting this fall.

A 2.48 percent Winthrop tuition increase brings the tuition amount for S.C. undergraduate residents to $7,435 for the coming semester. The out-of-state price would be $14,393.

The tuition amount for in-state graduate students will now be $7,405, while out-of-state graduate students will pay $14,265 per semester. Trustees approved a 3.48 percent tuition increase for Graduate School tuition.

“Trustees never like having to increase tuition,” said Karl Folkens, board chairman. “If we had our choice, we would have zero tuition increases. Winthrop’s trajectory is in the right direction.”

Winthrop’s finance committee reviewed the tuition increases for 2017-18 Friday morning and made a recommendation to pass it on to the full board Friday afternoon.

Folkens said the increases were the lowest percentage hikes at Winthrop in 18 years.

University of South Carolina’s trustees approved Friday a 3.46 percent tuition hike, the largest in six years.

This summer, The Citadel, Coastal Carolina University, College of Charleston and S.C. State University all have OK’d tuition hikes – most in the range of 3 percent to 3.25 percent.

Winthrop’s trustees met Friday afternoon in the Gold Room of the DiGiorgio Campus Center.

“Winthrop is cost-efficient,” said Folkens. “The new president (Dan Mahony) has done great work reducing costs. Inefficiencies have been identified and eliminated. We feel the pain with tuition increases, and we want to assure (students and parents) that we’re going to great lengths to be cost-efficient.”

The tuition increases at state schools come a year after researchers from Vanderbilt University and the University of Pennsylvania ranked South Carolina 44th in the country for college affordability.

That report found 28 percent of South Carolina families with annual incomes below $30,000 would have to spend, on average, 87 percent of that income to send a student to a public research institution like USC. Just one state in the Southeast, Alabama, was ranked lower.

The increases will help fund infrastructure improvements, including technology hardware and software, according to the university. It also helps fund the university’s portion of state-mandated pension plan costs for employees, increases in costs for health and dental benefits, and institutional marketing efforts.

Winthrop awards Mahony ‘outstanding’ evaluation, contract extension

The trustees voted unanimously to extend Mahony’s contract and to give him an “outstanding” evaluation.

Mahony’s current contract is extended to June 30, 2019. The board said Mahony received a rating of “exceeds expectations.”

Mahony will begin his third year at Winthrop in July.

Winthrop honors outgoing board members, re-elects chair and vice chair

Winthrop honored three outgoing trustees board members who finished their terms of service on Friday.

Sue Smith-Rex, John Bird, and student Beth West were all recognized for their time and insight on the board.

Smith-Rex is a retired College of Education faculty member. Bird is an English professor and director of the school’s Teaching and Learning Center. West served as the student representative to the board, as well as the Council of Student Leaders president.

The board also re-elected Folkens as its chairman and Glenn McCall as its vice chair. Both will serve one-year terms.

This story was originally published June 23, 2017 at 4:39 PM with the headline "Winthrop University students will pay more in tuition, fees in 2017-18."