The Citadel Board of Visitors voted not to raise tuition for the 2021-2022 academic year during a meeting on June 11.

“The Board is elated to be able to continue a tuition freeze for the third consecutive year for our cadets and students,” said Col. Myron C. Harrington Jr., USMC (Ret.). “America, South Carolina and our Citadel families are moving forward after a difficult and unprecedented pandemic year. The appropriations from the South Carolina General Assembly, as well as the college’s continuing strategies to control costs, enabled us to offer The Citadel’s transformative education and development experience to as many cadets and students as possible at the same tuition rates as 2019.”

During its annual meeting in September 2020, the BOV voted for a 2.5% increase based, in part, on the Higher Price Index (HEPI) projection at that time, and out of concern about pandemic-related costs to the college. The board reserved the right to change that decision when more information became available, as is being done now.

HEPI, the inflation index designed to track cost drivers in higher education, now projects a 2.2% college tuition increase nationally for 2021-2022, but the BOV determined this month that college can go forward without any increase. (The HEPI estimate is calculated with available year-to-date data points coupled with a forecast of remaining numbers based on historical data.)

The South Carolina Corps of Cadets

The Citadel is one of only two remaining 24/7 military colleges, out of the six federally appointed Senior Military Colleges. As such, when comparing college tuition rates, it is important to note that The Citadel’s fee structure is different because the costs of room and board and multiple sets of military uniforms comprise the overall “all-in” rate. This is because members of the South Carolina Corps of Cadets ─ all undergraduates ─ must live in the barracks, eat all meals in the mess hall and wear uniforms while on campus. Laundry, dry cleaning and books are also included in the all-in rate, with those costs calculated as part of each cadet’s One Card/Quartermaster Account.

The all-in rate does not include other items such as fees that vary according to the academic major or schedule of each cadet or student. Those major-specific fees align with the higher cost of some majors for faculty, labs, materials or programming.

The costs of attendance for the 2021-22 academic year are below. Some academic majors may require additional fees. Freshman year charges are higher because of first-year uniform purchases.

All-in Cost for Cadets	In-State	Out-of-State
Upper-class	$25,385	$48,641
Freshmen	$30,690	$53,946

There will be an increase in one area of fees for cadets, for room, board and quartermaster accounts. That will go up by $290 for freshmen, and $286 for upperclassmen.

The Citadel Graduate College

Students in The Citadel Graduate College’s on campus and online programs will also not see an increase in tuition and will continue at the rates listed below:

The Citadel Graduate College Programs (*per credit hour)	In-State	Out-of-State
Evening Undergraduates	$488	$925
Graduate Students	$595	$1,020
Online Undergraduates	$500	$500
Online Graduate Students	$695	$695

How will the tuition freeze impact the college?

The biggest impact will be to help maintain affordability for cadets and students. Academic programming and physical campus improvements will continue to be robust. In fact, the college opened a new, state-of-the-art facility that houses the Tommy and Victoria Baker School of Business this year, Bastin Hall, and is beginning the replacement of the college’s largest academic building, Capers Hall.

The Citadel has a consistent track record of achieving some of the highest four-year graduation rates in the state of South Carolina, some of the highest rates of employment after graduation and the highest salaries ten years after entering the college. The institution was recently recognized for achieving the highest return on investment of any four-year college in South Carolina and rated in the top 5% nationally. This combination of high four-year graduation rates, high employment and high salaries helped The Citadel earn recognition as #1 Public College in the South by U.S. News & World Report for the ten consecutive years.