photo by: University of Kansas

The skyline of the University of Kansas is pictured.

Most students at the University of Kansas should expect a 5% increase in the tuition and required fees they’ll pay to the university for the upcoming school year.

The Kansas Board of Regents on Wednesday unanimously approved tuition increases for nearly every state university for the 2026-2027 school year. KU’s 5.0% increase in tuition and required fees for in-state, undergraduate students was the second largest percentage increase and the largest dollar amount increase among the state’s primary universities.

KU Chancellor Doug Girod said KU needed the 5% increase due to a decline in state funding for general operations, and also to help blunt the impact of inflation. Girod also said he expects upward pressure on tuition rates in the future.

“If you look over the last seven to eight years, we have kept tuition increase significantly below inflation,” Girod told the Journal-World. “I don’t know how long we can do that. We are kind of reaching the point where we can’t do that indefinitely.”

Nearly all of the state’s Regents universities sought and received tuition and fee increases for the upcoming school year. Here’s a look at the average amount of tuition and required fees for in-state, undergraduate students for a single semester at each of the following universities:

• KU Lawrence campus: $6,634, up 5.0%

• KU Edwards campus: $6,527, down 3.1%

• KU Medical Center: $6,365, up 3.1%

• Kansas State main campus: $6,024, up 4.1%

• Kansas State-Salina campus: $5,842, up 7.2%

• Wichita State: $5,164, up 3.8%

• Pittsburg State: $4,442, up 3.3%

• Emporia State: $3,610, up 0.1%

• Fort Hays State: $3,237, up 5.9%

Emporia State was the only Regents university that did not seek an increase in its tuition rate. Its 0.1% increase resulted from a $3 increase in its required student fees.

Tuition increases at the state’s universities have become more common over the last four years, after the Regents declined to grant tuition increases for most universities during the early part of the decade. At KU, for instance, the university did not increase its tuition rate for undergraduate full-time students between fiscal years 2020 and 2023. Since fiscal year 2024, however, KU has averaged annual tuition increases of 4%, including the most recent increase for the 2026-2027 school year.

Regents on Wednesday were also given data about the cumulative tuition increases for each school since 2020. Those numbers, for in-state, full-time undergraduate students are:

• FHSU: up 26.8%

• WSU: up 20.2%

• PSU: up 17%

• KSU: up 16.5%

• KU: up 16.3%

• ESU: up 7.4%

Regents also were provided with data showing how much the universities have collected in tuition revenue, which accounts not for increases in tuition rates, but also changes in the total number of students enrolled at the university.

KU, as the state’s largest university system, has seen the greatest increase in tuition dollars over the last 10 years, as it has seen record enrollments in the last part of this decade. Here’s a look at total tuition dollars from fiscal year 2018 through fiscal year 2027, which is based on projections.

• KU: $397.1 million in fiscal year 2027, up $87.8 million from fiscal year 2018, up 28.4% from fiscal year 2018

• KSU: $236.2 million, up $17.6 million, up 8.1%

• WSU: $97.9 million, up $11.1 million, up 12.8%

• FHSU: $48.4 million, up $4.1 million, up 9.4%

• PSU: $32.3 million, down $4.3 million, down 11.9%

• ESU: $23 million, down $5 million, down 17.9%

While Girod said that KU will be challenged to keep tuition rates flat in the future, he also said KU will have to come up with new ways to provide scholarships to students because other universities are becoming more aggressive in attracting students as the number of high school graduates across the country is shrinking.

“I think we are continuing to see a lot of creative competition across the country,” Girod said. “That plays out in different ways, whether it is financial aid or other incentives. I think that is only going to grow in the coming years ahead.”

Girod said KU officials are working with leaders at the KU Endowment Association to examine ways to ensure that its scholarship programs are competitive, with a particular emphasis on getting potential students to see the campus and the university.

“I think our experience has been that if we can get them here, we have done pretty well,” Girod said of attracting new students. “Our trick is getting folks here to see what a great education at KU is all about.”