Kansas public university tuition increases range from 3.5% to 6% in upcoming academic year

Posted June 22, 2026

Pittsburg State University students face a 3.5% tuition rate increase this fall. The Kansas Board of Regents voted to allow adjustments ranging from zero at Emporia State University to 6% at Fort Hays State University. (Photo by Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA — A 3.5% to 6% tuition increases for in-state undergraduate students adopted by the Kansas Board of Regents will partially close budget gaps at the state’s public universities that result from inflation in operating costs and millions of dollars in budget cuts.

The adjustments range from a high of 6% at Fort Hays State University to a low of 3.5% at Pittsburg State University. Tuition rate changes at the state’s three largest universities fell between those margins with Wichita State University at 4.9%, University of Kansas at 4.8% and Kansas State University at 4%. Officials at Emporia State University again requested no tuition increase for the 2026-2027 academic year, but indicated the trend was unlikely to continue.

The average increase at the state universities was 3.9% to move the average per-semester tuition cost to $4,041. In historical terms, university tuition has escalated an average of 26.6% in the past decade.

Elaine Frisbie, vice president of finance and administration with the Board of Regents, said amendments to student tuition and fees were considered along with internal reorganizations and spending changes ordered by campus administrators.

“The tuition increases themselves do not fully close the universities’ budget gaps,” she said. “They are trying to address student affordability issues and being very mindful of their competitiveness against their neighboring state universities.”

Here are the new per-semester tuition rates at the six state universities in Kansas along with the percentage increase in tuition from 2016 to 2026:

  • KU: $5,920 (24%)
  • K-State: $5,512 (24.3%)
  • WSU: $4,087 (28.1%)
  • PSU: $3,363 (26.9%)
  • ESU: $2,770 (19.4%)
  • FHSU: $2,592 (37%)

Nationally, the Education Data Initiative reported college tuition rates for the upcoming academic year at public and private universities ranged from 3% to 6%.

Undergraduate tuition on the four campuses in the University of Missouri System are scheduled to climb 4% or about $20 per credit hour.

“The Board of Curators’ decision reflects our continued commitment to keep the University of Missouri as one of the nation’s great educational assets ­— competitive in both cost and quality with peer institutions regionally and nationally,” said Todd Graves, chair of the Board of Curators.

The University of Nebraska’s board of regents endorsed a 4.25% tuition increase on four campuses in the 2026-27 school year and justified the movement due to inflation-driven operating costs and declining state funding.

In Colorado, public universities advanced a plan to raise student tuition 3% to 4%. Major universities in Oklahoma anticipated tuition increases of 3% to 8% to accommodate inflation, enrollment growth and investment in faculty salaries.

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