Auburn University just approved a $2.12 billion budget — up $143 million from last year — and working families will foot the bill through tuition hikes, housing increases, and dining surges starting next fall.
The board of trustees signed off on the massive budget Friday, and the money has to come from somewhere. That somewhere is the pocketbooks of Alabama families and out-of-state students who already pay $13,572 in tuition and fees, plus another $18,424 for room and board if they live on campus.
In-state undergrads will pay 2% more in tuition. Out-of-state students get hit with a 5% increase. Auburn's Montgomery campus sees a 3% jump. On-campus housing goes up 5%, affiliate housing 6% — that's an extra $180 to $430 per semester just for a dorm room. Dining plans climb another $20 to $35. It all adds up, and it all flows one direction: into the university's coffers.
Chief Financial Officer Kelli Shomaker said the rate increases will fund "renovation and deferred maintenance projects and continue to provide the best possible campus living experience for our students." Translation: luxury amenities and building projects take priority over keeping college affordable. No mention of where the other $143 million goes. No breakdown of administrative salaries, DEI offices, or the bureaucratic bloat that consumes an ever-larger share of university budgets nationwide. The CFO's statement tells you everything about the racket — "campus living experience" is the selling point, not education.
SGA President Willis Orr echoed the inflation talking point, telling the Plainsman that students have "more jobs" and are "seeing things on their end with the normal increases they see every year." Orr added: "as inflation increases, I think this is probably the biggest." Note what's missing from both the administration and the student government president: any mention of cutting costs, reducing administrative overhead, or questioning whether the university needs to spend $2.12 billion in the first place.
Meanwhile, not every university is running this playbook. Concordia University, St. Paul is actually cutting tuition for 2027-28, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported, recognizing that price has become universities' "biggest competitor." One school hikes; another cuts. The difference is leadership willing to confront the spending machine instead of passing it along to families who take on debt so administrators can keep expanding.
The real question isn't whether inflation exists — it's why a public university in Alabama needs $2.12 billion a year, and why nobody in a position of authority will open the books and show families exactly how much of that sum funds the ideological and administrative apparatus versus the classroom. Until they do, every tuition hike is a shakedown with a press release.
