Facing enrollment decline, Washington State University regents have voted to raise tuition costs for the 2026-2027 academic year.
Members of the WSU Board of Regents voted to increase tuition by 3.3% during a meeting in Seattle on Friday, 15 November. This amounts to a $373 annual increase for in-state undergraduates and $431 for graduate students, according to the university.
Over the past six years, enrollment at the Pullman-based university has declined by nearly 20%. The board previously met in September ahead of Friday’s meeting where they discussed future tuition rates.
The new tuition fees will push students to pay in excess of $12,200 annually.
WSU’s tuition increase comes the same week the university announced it had terminated athletic director Anne McCoy. Her replacement will arrive just two years after she assumed the role.
In addition to McCoy’s departure, deputy athletic director Ike Ukaegbu also left the department to become a deputy athletic director and chief operating officer for Utah State University’s athletic department.
The 3.3% tuition increase approved by Washington State University regents represents the institution’s response to financial pressures created by sustained enrollment decline that has reduced tuition revenue by approximately 20% over six years, forcing administrators to choose between raising rates on remaining students or implementing deeper budget cuts affecting academic programmes and services.
The $373 annual increase for in-state undergraduates and $431 for graduate students, whilst modest in percentage terms, compounds affordability challenges for students already managing rising costs for housing, food, textbooks, and other expenses. The cumulative effect of annual increases, even at relatively low percentages, creates substantial cost growth over a four-year undergraduate programme or multi-year graduate degree.
The timing of the tuition increase announcement alongside athletic director Anne McCoy’s termination creates unfortunate optics suggesting institutional priorities, though the decisions likely emerged from separate administrative processes. Students and families facing tuition increases may question resource allocation when high-profile administrative positions experience turnover whilst academic costs rise.
The 20% enrollment decline over six years represents a crisis-level situation for WSU that goes beyond typical cyclical fluctuations in student demand. This magnitude of decline signals fundamental challenges attracting and retaining students, whether due to demographic shifts reducing the college-age population, increasing competition from other institutions, concerns about programme quality or outcomes, affordability barriers, or changing perceptions of higher education’s value proposition.
Enrollment decline creates vicious cycles for universities where reduced student numbers generate budget shortfalls that force cuts to programmes, services, and faculty, which in turn make the institution less attractive to prospective students, accelerating further enrollment losses. Breaking this cycle requires either arresting enrollment decline through improved recruitment and retention or fundamentally restructuring the institution’s cost base to operate sustainably at lower enrollment levels.
The $12,200 annual tuition figure, whilst representing in-state rates at a public university and thus substantially below private institution costs, still constitutes significant expense for families, particularly when combined with room, board, fees, and other costs that push total annual attendance expenses toward $30,000 or more. This price point challenges affordability for middle-class families who may not qualify for need-based financial aid but struggle to pay costs from current income or savings.
