Thank you for Wednesday’s informative article about Mississippi State’s decision to charge additional tuition above 16 hours per semester. This is a change families need to be aware of, as it could add a significant amount to their yearly bill and puts the cost of tuition for Mississippi State significantly higher than the other schools in the state. While 19 hours is not required to graduate in four years, many students will need to take that many hours to catch up, if they need to repeat a class or change majors or just to add a second major or minor. It is not at all uncommon for students to take more than 16 hours.
I was pleased you mentioned The W in the article, though you only said that we charge students additional tuition above 19 hours. Since you compared the 4-year cost for 19 hours at other schools in the state, it would have made sense to include our 4-year total as well. For eight semesters at the current full-time tuition rate of $4,226, four years at The W would cost $33,968, a significant savings over even the lowest flagship rate, Ole Miss held that spot at $38,448.
You are right to mention the additional fees per college that Mississippi State is adding as well. When families consider the cost of their child’s college education, they need to take into account all fees and the cost of room and board. Including The W in that comparison shows what an incredible value we are, which is probably why we graduate students with the lowest average debt. I would encourage The Dispatch to do a deeper dive into the total cost of attendance for higher education in the state and to include The W and other regional universities in the mix.
Kendall Dunkelberg
Columbus
Publisher’s note: I appreciate the author’s letter and calculations on The W’s tuition. Many online commenters also noted the absence of The W from the chart that accompanied the story. We excluded The W from the chart primarily because we were trying to compare tuition hour caps to show MSU is an outlier among similarly-sized universities with similar full-time tuition rates. We weren’t necessarily trying to compare all universities in the state. Perhaps we should have included The W in the chart, if for no other reason that it is another local four-year university.
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 30 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
