In a press release Monday, WSU announced it is pausing tuition and fee increases in the 2025-26 academic year for students with fewer than 60 credit hours.

“At WSU, 49% of full-time resident students have fewer than 60 credit hours — the number required to earn an associate degree,” the release said. “First-year and sophomore students who attend WSU in the fall and spring semesters will save $135 per year.”

WSU President Brad Mortensen said this program may only be a start.

“That’s a modest start to what we hope will be even greater savings in the future,” he said. “We know that every dollar matters for our students, so we’re hoping this pilot program can serve as a model for the state to follow and eventually get students saving closer to $1,000 per year.”

On Tuesday, WSU News Coordinator Rachel Badali told the Standard-Examiner the move is about making the university’s programming competitive with other institutions.

“Weber State is a dual-mission university, which means we serve two different populations — those getting two-year degrees and those getting four-year degrees,” she said. “This is the first step in trying to ensure that two-year degrees are as affordable at Weber State as they are at community colleges.”

She said the measure will ultimately make it easier for many students to attend WSU.

“When you’re a student feeling the impact of every single dollar, efforts to keep costs as low as possible really matter,” she said. “Measures like this help ensure we’re moving in the right direction to help bring college within reach of more students. Ultimately, we don’t want to charge four-year rates for students pursuing two-year degrees.”

Badali said students who have completed 60 or more credits will see tuition increase by around 2% in the coming academic year.

“That’s less than the rate of inflation and it is among the lowest of our peers in the state,” she said. “When we’re talking about tuition, we’re really talking about the sticker price, but Weber State gives out over $94 million in scholarships and financial aid each year. There are programs like Dream Weber for those who make less than $50,000 and Catapult for those who are close to finishing their degrees but need support to get to that final stretch of their education.”