NORFOLK, Va. - For the second straight year, Old Dominion University's Board of Visitors voted unanimously to freeze tuition.
The tuition freeze applies to all students, including those from out of state and in graduate school.
According to writer Harry Minium, a student taking a full undergraduate load of 30 credit hours over two semesters will pay $11,160 for tuition and fees in 2020-21. Increases in student and health fees account for a $140 overall rise in fees from last year.
With this vote, ODU remains the least expensive doctoral and research institution in the state.
In previous meetings, board members had considered a tuition increase of as much as 4%, but according to Minium, they elected to hold the line on tuition due to the economic hardships many students are experiencing because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
In early April, the university announced it would provide nearly $8.4 million in rebates to students for the spring 2020 semester to alleviate some of students' financial burdens.
The board also adopted a provisional budget of about $500 million for the 2020-21 fiscal year, which would be $28 million less than the 2019-20 budget.
ODU's board likely will not approve a final budget until September.
The university is expecting a freshman class of about 3,100 students and about 2,000 transfer students.
ODU has also taken major steps to reduce spending as a result of the coronavirus. The university instituted a year-long mandatory hiring freeze, trimmed costs from departmental base budgets and will carry over a surplus of at least $5 million from savings accrued in 2019-20.
Click here for more information on the tuition freeze and the university's budget plans.
