Higher education audit highlights rising course fees while tuition stays flat - Ashley Jost, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Missouri’s public universities are on the hook from the state auditor about college affordability. In a report released Tuesday morning, Auditor Nicole Galloway highlights the growing trend of schools keeping tuition flat for in-state residents, but increasing fees that students must pay for specific classes or within an academic college. An almost 10-year-old state law prevents universities from increasing tuition costs for in-state students more than the value of the Consumer Price Index, a percentage that indicates how Missouri’s economy is performing. Between 2008 and 2015, the CPI hovered around 1.8 percent per year — and schools averaged a 1.6 percent tuition increase. Supplemental fees increased by 138 percent during that six-year period, the audit shows, while the amount of state funding for higher education dropped by about $1,500 per student. http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/higher-education-audit-highlights-rising-course-fees-while-tuition-stays/article_d6720b86-cedb-5bf4-9432-2290ac823cad.html