Gov. Mike Braun on Wednesday praised his statewide tuition freeze order saying it makes college more affordable at all 15 of Indiana’s colleges and universities.
Many college students have already begun fall semester classes.
The freeze, now in its second and final year, includes main and regional campuses like Indiana University Northwest in Gary and Purdue University Northwest in Hammond and Westville, as well as Ivy Tech Community College campuses in Lake and Porter counties.
Braun, a Republican, called for the tuition freeze, which also includes mandatory fees, last summer and all 15 institutions agreed to keep tuition at the same level in 2025-26 and 2026-27. The Indiana Commission for Higher Education, whose members Braun appoints, endorsed Braun’s order and monitors it.
Much like he told public schools to do more with less, Braun encouraged higher education institutions to become more efficient, eliminate redundancies and streamline services without sacrificing the quality of education at their schools.
“Indiana’s public institutions answered my call to find efficiencies and put students and their families first. In Indiana, your higher education dollar stretches further,” Braun said in a statement.
The release said it marks the first time in Indiana history that every public higher education institution has simultaneously held tuition and mandatory fees flat for two consecutive years.
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Indiana University spokesman Mark Bode provided tuition costs at IU Northwest for three years from 2024 to 2027. The in-state tuition and fees remained the same at $8,424 each year. Costs for out-of-state students grew from $22,811 in 2024 to $23,256 in 2026-27.
IU officials reduced the number of academic fees by half in 2024 at a student savings of $14.5 million, according to data from Bode. Fundraising in 2024 also showed a 23% increase in support for student access and affordability.
Despite the in-state tuition freeze, universities could still increase room and board fees as well as tuition costs for out-of-state and international students.
Indiana’s public institutions include: Ball State University, Indiana State University, Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana University East, Indiana University Indianapolis, Indiana University Northwest, Indiana University South Bend, Indiana University Southeast, Ivy Tech Community College, Purdue University West Lafayette, Purdue University Fort Wayne, Purdue University Northwest, the University of Southern Indiana and Vincennes University.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter at the Post-Tribune.