UConn is freezing its tuition rates in 2026-27 for the second straight year to ensure it remains affordable for families and competitively priced against other institutions, while protecting the quality of its academic and research enterprise.
The UConn Board of Trustees approved a plan Wednesday in which some fees will be adjusted modestly to meet the increasing costs of providing specific services, but undergraduate and graduate tuition rates will remain flat for the second consecutive year.
UConn’s current academic year was its first with a tuition freeze since 1999-2000. The 2026-27 tuition freeze will represent the first time since then in which the University has held the rate flat for at least two consecutive years.
The freeze comes as UConn seeks ways to increase revenue from non-tuition sources; increase efficiencies; address budget deficits; and establish long-term financial predictability and stability through its Financial Sustainability Plan and its Strategic Enrollment Management Plan.
Reka Wrynn, UConn’s interim vice president for finance, says the driving principle is ensuring a high-quality and affordable academic experience for students, which then becomes the foundation for a strong return on investment over the course of their careers.
In fact, a recent Georgetown University study ranking more than 4,600 colleges found that UConn graduates yielded a 10-year ROI of $226,000 to $296,000 depending on their campus – all notably higher than the median of $149,000 at public universities nationwide.
The plan that trustees approved Wednesday keeps tuition flat in the 2026-27 academic year along with avoiding an increase in the General University Fee (GUF), the largest mandatory fee outside of the optional housing and dining categories.
That fee pays for extracurricular and co-curricular offerings such as career services, the One Card Office, cultural centers, student organizations, athletics tickets, the UConn Marching Band, Fraternity and Sorority Development, and others.
Small increases in other areas – Student Health & Wellness, infrastructure maintenance, transit, technology, and student activities — are tied directly to the higher costs of providing those services.
The plan includes a 2.75% increase to the lowest student housing rate, with the revenue used for operations and continued investment in maintaining and improving the on-campus residence halls. Dining rates will also increase by 2.75% at Storrs, directly tied to increased costs of food and related services.
Even when accounting for the fee adjustments, data consistently shows that UConn offers academic excellence at a significant value for Connecticut residents compared with the amounts they would pay if they attended many competing institutions.
Among a group of 14 schools against which UConn directly competes for applicants who receive enrollment offers, 11 have higher room and board rates, including several flagship institutions.
A large number of UConn students’ costs are also reduced by financial aid, with almost three-quarters of UConn’s undergraduates receiving some form of gift aid they do not have to repay.
“In every discussion relating to tuition and fees, we consider first and foremost how to protect the quality of the student experience and to ensure it remains an economic value,” Wrynn says, adding that UConn has increased its financial aid budget by 42% over the past five years.
Nathan Fuerst, UConn’s vice president for student life, said Wednesday that financial constraints are cited by students as the primary reason they leave after enrollment, and that actions such as the tuition freeze are important to help recruit and retain them.
“We continually work to make sure that the education we provide at the University remains affordable for our very best students in Connecticut and also makes us attractive for talented out-of-state students,” Fuerst said.
Before their approvals on Wednesday, the fee schedules for 2026-27 had been presented virtually and in person at two Town Hall events in November, with the recordings available for viewing online.
Every student fee category at UConn correlates to specific services funded by that revenue. Those increasing in 2026-27 are:
• Student Health & Wellness, which provides a comprehensive range of services including medical treatment, mental health programming, a pharmacy, preventive care and health screenings, immunizations, sports and travel medicine, an allergy clinic, and others.
• Infrastructure Maintenance, which directly supports maintenance costs for classrooms, buildings, and infrastructure, including preventive maintenance that helps drive down operational expenses.
• The Transit Fee, which funds the campus bus service and provides students with access to the state’s UPass program, which allows them to ride state-operated buses and trains without charge throughout Connecticut.
• The Technology Fee, which helps pay for classroom technology for students’ multimodal learning, software for teaching and learning, Microsoft 360, and related services.
• Student Activity Fees, which are collected by the University but then passed through in their entirety to the student governments at each campus. Those entities review and act on requests for increased funding from student groups.
Not including housing and dining, the 2026-27 fee changes represent increases of:
• $240 for Storrs-based undergraduates.
• $200 for undergraduates at Avery Point, Hartford, Stamford, and Waterbury. Fee rates are lower at the regional campuses because those students do not have regular access to some of the Storrs-based services.
• $172 for graduate assistants at Storrs, who receive waivers and credits that reduce or eliminate their costs in certain categories.
• $240 for graduate students at Storrs who are not graduate assistants and therefore not eligible for waivers and credits.
• $288 for graduate students in the schools of law and social work, including a new $122 fee to provide access to Student Health & Wellness mental health services.
• Various professional programs also have increases to account for inflation in those particular offerings.
