The John Brown University Board of Trustees announced this week a 1.93 percent blended increase for 2020-2021 undergraduate tuition, fees, room and board. The 1.93% increase is the lowest percentage rate increase in more than 30 years and amounts to $718.
To help with the increase, the university will make an additional $425,000 budget available for need and merit-based institutional scholarships and work-study positions. For the 2020-21 academic year, JBU expects to award $16 million in scholarships with 90 percent of JBU students receiving some form of institutional aid, including approximately $2.3 million in endowed scholarships that benefit more than 460 students.
“The board of trustees and administration of JBU are committed to controlling operational costs so that we can keep tuition increases as low as possible,” Dr. Kim Hadley, vice president for finance and administration, said. “We are grateful for the many faculty, staff, alumni and friends who generously give each year to scholarship endowments and the annual fund to help our students attend JBU.
In September, The Wall Street Journal announced its 2020 college rankings and named JBU the #1 university in Arkansas. JBU also continues to advance and is now No. 11 in the 2020 U.S. News & World Report Best Regional University rankings and, for the fourth year, was the top-ranked Arkansas school in its cohort. Forbes named JBU one of America’s Top Colleges, and Money ranked JBU the top school in Arkansas.
Although exact board costs may vary slightly based on selected flexible dining options, the cost breakdown for undergraduate tuition, fees, room and board for 2020-21 is:
| Increase | Total | |
| Tuition & Fees | $620 | $28,288 |
| Room | $0 | $4,536 |
| Board | $98 | $5,018 |
| TOTAL | $718 | $37,842 |
John Brown University is a leading private Christian university, training students to honor God and serve others since 1919. As Arkansas’ top-ranked university (Wall Street Journal, 2020), JBU enrolls more than 2,100 students from 36 states and 59 countries in its traditional undergraduate, graduate, online and concurrent education programs. JBU offers more than 40 majors, with top programs including engineering, nursing, family and human services, biology, graphic design and construction management.