Fairmont State lowers out-of-state tuition and freezes costs for in-state students

FAIRMONT, W.Va. —Fairmont State University students will be on break next academic year.

Last week, the university’s Board of Governors voted to freeze in-state tuition and consolidate out-of-state rates for the 2025 academic year.

President Mike Davis previously said there are two classifications of tuition rates for out-of-state students. Prospective students in border states had access to reduced subway fares. Out-of-state students, including student-athletes, were required to pay a higher out-of-state tuition rate.

“Reduce tuition for every other out-of-state student in West Virginia to the metro rate so that instead of two different rates, there is only one out-of-state rate,” Davis said.

Postsecondary institutions are now competing for a smaller pool of potential high school graduates who have more and more opportunities. Traditional institutions must become more competitive with the growing popularity of technical and vocational education options that can enable students to enter the workforce faster and potentially with less debt.

“We have to find a way to be more competitive,” Davis said. “We know that high school graduation rates are declining in the state of West Virginia, and we need more markets where we can talk about how great Fairmont State University is and where we can be more economically competitive.”

Davis hopes the changes affecting out-of-state students will enrich the student body as a whole. The new rates could make colleges more attractive across the country and attract more students to the community who could become permanent residents in the future.

“It will also help our athletic programs, band, debate teams and programs that we will be recruiting for from across the country,” Davis said. “Not only will this attract additional students; will attract students with specialties.”

The university’s continued strong financial position year after year allows BOG to confidently make this decision. Davis said this move significantly improves their affordability on a national scale.

“Prior to this move, we were cheaper than 74 universities east of Mississippi that are public institutions,” Davis said. “Now there are 175 that are cheaper than east of the Mississippi.”

Out-of-state students will no longer pay more than $5,000 a year more than students on the Metro rate, and tuition will not increase for in-state students who pay $7,000 less than the Metro rate.

“We are a not-for-profit institution, so our goal is to provide students with an excellent education at the lowest possible cost while enabling the university to be operated at the highest level,” Davis said.