TUCSON — Wildcats and their families got some rare good news about college costs this week: the University of Arizona says nobody’s tuition or fees will go up next fall.
The university announced Monday that it will freeze tuition rates and fees for all undergraduate and graduate students for fall 2027, according to a University of Arizona news release and reporting by KOLD 13 News.
Who is covered
For Arizona residents in undergraduate programs, the move extends an existing freeze, meaning resident undergraduate tuition will have held flat for four years. What is new this year is the reach: the freeze now also applies to nonresident undergraduates and to every graduate student, so no student will see a tuition or fee increase, KOLD reported.
“For the fourth consecutive year, we have held the line on resident undergraduate tuition and fees, and now we are extending that commitment to nonresident undergraduates and all graduate students, because a world-class education must be within reach for every Wildcat,” President Suresh Garimella said in the university’s announcement.
Provost and Chief Academic Officer Patricia Prelock said the university is “keeping tuition and fees flat as part of our commitment to make college affordable and accessible,” and is equally focused on helping students graduate “with as little debt as possible.”
Not final yet
The freeze is part of the university’s full tuition, fee, housing and meal plan proposal, which is posted online. The Arizona Board of Regents, which sets tuition at the state’s three public universities, is scheduled to review it at its November meeting.
Part of a broader pitch
University officials framed the freeze as one piece of a larger affordability and student-success strategy rather than a stand-alone decision. The release pointed to several recent moves:
- Revisions to merit aid in a new enrollment strategy designed to better serve in-state students.
- Free counseling through Campus Health’s Counseling and Psych Services, which began July 1.
- A requirement, starting this semester, that first-year students live on campus. University data show students who lived on campus for at least a year had a 50% higher four-year graduation rate than those who never did.
- A $20 million gift from the Garcia Family Foundation in September 2025 to expand study abroad for students with financial need.
The university also noted that The Princeton Review recently named it a “Best Value” school, a ranking that weighs academics, cost, financial aid, career outcomes, graduation rates and student debt.
The announcement gives the UA a tuition talking point heading into the regents’ fall review, at a time when college costs remain one of the biggest barriers to higher education nationally.
Photo: Jscarreiro via Wikimedia Commons (public domain). Old Main on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson; 1996 file photo.
Sources: University of Arizona News; KOLD 13 News.
This article was produced with AI assistance and is based on reporting from University of Arizona News and KOLD 13 News.