Bridgewater State freezes tuition, issues $9 million in credits and refunds

Chris Lisinski
State House News Service

Hoping to lessen the financial burden on students and their families during a time of crisis, Bridgewater State University officials agreed on a plan to keep tuition and fees at existing levels during the upcoming academic year. The Board of Trustees signed onto a plan from President Frederick Clark to maintain tuition and fees at $10,732 per year for full-time, in-state undergraduate students, according to a Thursday press release.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has created a serious financial strain for our students, as demand on our BSU Student Emergency Fund attests,” Clark said in the release. “We are hopeful that this decision will help to relieve some of the economic pressure on our students and their families.”

The school also issued more than $9 million in credits or refunds in April for unused services and directed almost $740,000 from an emergency fund to help more than 1,000 students who have sustained income losses during the pandemic.