BU Freezes Tuition for 2025-2026
Photo provided by student photographer Talan Poe.
In a landmark decision, Bluefield University is freezing tuition for the upcoming 2025-2026 academic year. This decision was made to reaffirm the university’s commitment to making higher education more affordable, as stated on the BU website.
Dr. Steve Peterson, Bluefield University’s president, said that he and the president’s office played a key role in the decision to freeze tuition.
“My office played a central role in recommending the tuition freeze to the board,” Dr. Peterson said. “This came after detailed financial modeling and discussion with our finance team, enrollment leadership, and academic affairs. We examined national trends and our own student demographics and retention data.”
After it was made clear by the data that a tuition freeze would be beneficial to the university and its students, the president was then able to detail to the Board of Trustees what a tuition freeze could look like.
“We then presented a plan to the board showing how we could maintain academic quality while keeping tuition flat,” Dr. Peterson said. “It was a collaborative effort, and I’m grateful for the board’s support in prioritizing students this way.”
The president realizes the immense importance a tuition freeze holds for students. He said he hopes this decision also demonstrates the university’s commitment to making a BU education more accessible.
“From my perspective, a tuition freeze is both a mission-driven and strategic decision,” Dr. Peterson said. “For students, it helps remove one of the biggest barriers to continuing their education. It shows we’re serious about putting our students first.”
Dr. Peterson said he also realizes what benefits a tuition freeze holds for the university.
“This helps the university stand out in a competitive market,” Dr. Peterson said. “Students want a school that combines value with quality. A tuition freeze shows our commitment to managing resources. It benefits our current students and will also attract future students.”
Attracting students was also a goal of the Board of Trustees. A representative and member of the board had this to say about the decision to freeze tuition.
“We are trying to do everything we can, the board, but more specifically, management of the university, to attract more and more students. We could spend a lot of money on a lot of things to try to attract new students, but we don’t necessarily have a lot of money to do that. So we’re trying to find a balance of what is a reasonable tuition that is hopefully, at a minimum, competitive with other institutions, particularly ones like Bluefield University, that will attract and invite students to come.”
The Board of Trustees also remarked on the goal to offer Bluefield University as a low-cost university option this fall.
“Now we’re going forward with this fall, a proposal, and a decision to freeze tuition where it is. I would suggest to you that tuition is a complicated animal. There is a lot of things that go into it. We would like to be as low-cost of a school as we can be.”