The University of the West Indies (UWI) has announced increased tuition fees for students attending two of its campuses for the upcoming academic year which starts in September.
A memorandum to students of the Global Campus, formerly the Open Campus, from the Office of the Campus Registrar informed students that a “reduced and incremental increase” in tuition fees would take effect instead of the original 10 per cent that had been proposed.
“Last academic year 2022/2023, there was an increase in tuition fees of five per cent. This followed eight years of no tuition increases and an original proposal for a 10 per cent increase. Your Guild Executive partnered with the Campus and University administration and brokered a reduced and incremental increase.
“Consequently, this academic year’s tuition fees will only be increased by four per cent for Semester 1, 2023/2024 and by two per cent for Semester 2, 2023/2024. This increase was approved at a meeting of the University Council in April 2023,” the Global Campus added.
As a result, tuition fees will now increase from US$126 per credit for regional students doing online/blended undergraduate programmes to US$131 per credit this semester, and then to US$131 per credit in Semester 2.
Tuition fees per credit for regional students doing graduate programmes (Graduate certificates/diplomas and Masters) will go from US$231 to US$240 this semester and then to US$245 in semester 2
Meanwhile, MPhil, PhD, and Professional Doctorates (EdD) graduate programmes will increase from US$272 per credit to US$283 per credit for this Semester and then rise to US$289 per credit in Semester 2.
The tuition fees per credit for international students engaging in undergraduate programmes will increase from US$200 to US$208 in the first Semester and then to US$212 in the second Semester.
International students doing graduate studies including graduate Certificates/Diplomas and Masters, are now required to pay US$383 per credit, up from US$368.
This will then increase to US$390 per credit in Semester 2.
Additionally, those doing studies at the MPhil, Phd, and Professional Doctorates (EdD) levels will now be required to pay US$448 per credit in tuition fees for semester 1, up from US$431. The fee per credit will then rise to US$457 in Semester 2.
Meanwhile, students attending the Cave Hill Campus in Barbados have been informed that “there has been a slight increase in tuition fees effective 2023/2024 for students in non-self-financed programmes in the faculties of Culture, Creative and Performing Arts, Humanities and Education, Science and Technology and Social Sciences”.
Full-time students attending the campus and pursuing studies in the faculties identified will pay a tuition fee of BDS$6,100, up from $6,000.
Those in the faculties of Law, Sport, and Medical Sciences and those studying for the Bsc Software Engineering Mobile App Development in the Faculty of Science and Technology, will not be affected.
At the same time, tuition fees for part-time students have attracted an increase of just five dollars, moving to $275 per credit for students in the faculties of Humanities and Education; Culture, Creative and Performing Arts; Science and Technology; and Social Sciences.
