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The University of Oregon delivers a world-class education and exceptional experience to students from around the world. Tuition and state support are the two main sources of revenue that pay for the bulk of the university’s operating costs, including faculty and staff salaries; classrooms and libraries; academic advising, information technology, facilities, fundraising, admissions, human resources, and around $60 million in financial aid and scholarships that help ensure UO remains accessible to every qualified Oregonian who wants to attend.

The Oregon Guarantee

On March 17, 2020, the UO Board of Trustees approved the Oregon Guarantee program. Starting summer 2020, the Oregon Guarantee provides each UO undergraduate student a fixed tuition rate for up to five years. This helps families accurately plan and predict their total tuition and helps eliminate the uncertainty of what a UO degree will cost.

Oregon Guarantee Details

Tuition-Setting Process

The Tuition and Fee Advisory Board (TFAB) is the university’s official advisory group charged with reviewing and recommending tuition and fee proposals each year, prior to their submission to the President. TFAB is advisory to the President and its members are drawn broadly from the university community, including students, faculty, and staff.  

The President charges TFAB with advising on all matters that pertain to the cost of attendance at the University, including undergraduate and graduate tuition, mandatory fees, non-mandatory fees (such as housing costs and course fees), and the structure of tuition (including, for example, differential tuition levels or comprehensive graduate program rates). In addition, TFAB helps to promote communication and engagement about tuition with the students of the University.

The FY24 Tuition and Fee Advisory Board met during fall 2023 to learn about a range of topics, including the fundamental aspects of the UO budget, a primer on financial aid, and long-term projections for the education and general fund. During winter 2024, TFAB met to discuss proposals for changing administratively controlled mandatory fees, housing rates, course fees, graduate tuition, and tuition rates for the new cohort of undergraduate students. All TFAB meetings--which took place in fall and winter terms--were open to the public. Meeting information and materials are available at https://tuition.uoregon.edu/updates

President Scholz hosted a forum on tuition on Thursday, February 15 and further community input on the tuition recommendations from the 2023-24 Tuition and Fee Advisory Board (TFAB) was requested by online survey, February 12 through February 19. The president shared his tuition and fee proposal for the 2024-25 academic year in early March.

Undergraduate Tuition and Fees

Tuition and Fees

BASED ON 15 CREDITS PER TERM FOR FY 2023-24

RESIDENT

$13,015
TUITION
$2,654

MANDATORY FEES

$15,669
TOTAL TUITION AND FEES

NONRESIDENT

$40,648
TUITION
$2,654
MANDATORY FEES
$43,302
TOTAL TUITION AND FEES

For the estimated cost of attendance at the University of Oregon, please see detailed information online at UO Financial Aid &ScholarshipsCost of attendance is the estimated cost to attend the UO for the academic year. The Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships provides estimates for cost of attendance information that goes beyond tuition and fees, and includes: living expenses (housing and food), books/supplies/equipment, transportation, and miscellaneous personal expenses.

State Contributions

While the cost of delivering a public education has only increased slightly over the last two decades when adjusted for inflation, the level of public support has declined significantly during the same time. Fundamentally, public disinvestment has shifted the burden of paying for a college education to students and families.

State Appropriations

Funding Sources

Tuition is the primary funding source for the university's academic operations.

EDUCATION AND GENERAL FUND FISCAL YEAR 2022-23

$319.9M
NON-RESIDENT NET TUITION
$141.5M
RESIDENT NET TUITION
$96.2M
STATE APPROPRIATION
$66.4M
OTHER REVENUE
(fees, overhead on grants, interest and investment earnings, sales and service revenues)

Major Cost Drivers

The UO strives to keep tuition increases as low as possible, but the costs of operating a world-class research institution continue to increase every year. A core part of UO's budgeting exercise is to project the future operating costs and make necessary revenue and spending adjustments. This includes investing in exceptional faculty and staff by offering fair benefits and competitive salaries, which require incremental annual increases.

These labor costs, largely driven by collective bargaining agreements, account for about 77% of expenditures, yet the staffing levels at the UO still remain behind peer institutions. FY2021 surveys of staffing levels at other AAU public institutions indicate UO only has 74.6% of the average student-faculty ratio among peer universities and 65.3% of staff per student.

Cost Drivers

ANTICIPATED INCREASES FOR FISCAL YEAR 2024

$11.9M
FACULTY, STAFF, AND GRADUATE STUDENTS - SALARY AND WAGES
$1.9M
RETIREMENT COSTS
$2.2M
MEDICAL COSTS
$1.5M
INSTITUTIONAL EXPENSES
(includes insurance, utilities, rent)
$2.0M
STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS
$900K
Oregon Paid Leave program 
(started Sept 2023)

Affordability and Accessibility

To further promote student access and success, the UO has increased financial assistance through initiatives like its innovative PathwayOregon program. PathwayOregon ensures qualified, Pell-eligible Oregonians receive full tuition and fees, as well as academic support, which has helped boost the graduation rate for Pell-eligible students in the Pathway program by 15 percent.

The UO has also bolstered efforts to increase the four-year graduation rate to help students save thousands of dollars on additional tuition, fees, books, and living expenses.

2,107

PELL-ELIGIBLE STUDENTS RECEIVING FULL TUITION
(january 2024 data)

26%

RESIDENT FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS RECEIVING FULL TUITION AND FEES
(january 2024 data)

Affordability and accessibility are vital components for achieving the university's public mission. The UO is conducting aggressive fundraising efforts and budgeting exercises to help curb institutional costs and defray the impact of tuition increases on students and families. The following data show UO fundraising outcomes for FY2023. Learn more about UO’s ongoing fundraising efforts for Scholarships & Students Success programs.

$130M
FY23 total raised
$23M
RAISED FOR STUDENT SUPPORT (17% of FY23 total)

Tuition-Related Acronyms and Concepts

AAU — Association of American Universities

The AAU is composed of North America’s 69 leading research universities. The UO is one of only two AAU member organizations in the Pacific Northwest.

Cost Drivers — Recurring cost increases the university must cover on an ongoing basis in the future.  The list does not include all costs that will increase at the University.  Instead, it outlines the major costs, such as salaries and benefits that are projected to increase across the entire institution.

E&G Fund — Education and General Expenses Fund (or Budgeted Operations)

F&A Rate/Return — Facilities and Administrative rate/return

FTE — Full-Time Equivalent

FY — Fiscal Year

The UO uses July 1 through June 30 as its fiscal year. FY22 runs from July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022.

GE — Graduate Employee

HECC — Higher Education Coordinating Commission

The HECC sets state policy and funding strategies, administers numerous programs and over $1.2 billion annually of public funding, and convenes partners working across the public and private higher education arena to achieve state goals.

ICC — Indirect Cost Credits

Revenue generated from the F&A rate charged to sponsored grants.

OPE — Other personnel expenses (fringe benefits)

At the UO, this is charged as a fixed rate to departments based on an employee’s classification and type of earnings. It covers benefits such as health insurance and retirement.

Pac-12 — Collegiate athletic conference that operates in the Western US (12 colleges from Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon, Utah, and Washington)

PathwayOregon —  UO program ensuring that academically qualified, Federal Pell Grant–eligible Oregonians who recently graduated from high school and are admitted as first-time freshmen, can apply to have their tuition and fees paid through a combination of federal, state, and university funds. In addition to financial support, the program provides comprehensive academic support and career guidance.

PEBB — Public Employees Benefit Board

PEBB purchases and coordinates Health insurance benefits for approximately 140,000 Oregonians.

PERS — Public Employees Retirement System – Tiers 1 and 2, and OPSRP (Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan). The UO is legally required to offer PERS retirement benefits to its faculty and staff.

PUSF — Public University Support Fund

The main pool of funds allocated by the state for operating support of the public universities in Oregon.  The HECC distributes this funding through its SSCM model. 

S&S — Services and Supplies: includes insurance, travel, computers, etc.

SCH — Student Credit Hours

SSCM — Student Success and Completion Model.

The funding model that the HECC uses to allocate state operating funds to the public universities.

TFAB — Tuition and Fee Advisory Board

The university’s official advisory group charged with reviewing and recommending tuition and fee proposals each year, prior to their submission to the president and Board of Trustees.

TFAB is advisory to the president and its members are drawn broadly from the university community, including students, faculty, and staff.