Board of Trustees Approves 2026-2027 Operating Budget Including Tuition and Fees
Dear Parents and Students,
The Loyola University Chicago Board of Trustees has approved the new operating budget for academic year 2026-2027. The budget sets the University’s full-time undergraduate tuition at $56,930, a 4.4 percent increase from the current year. Mandatory fees and tuition for most graduate programs will also increase by 4.4 percent. Rates for residence halls will vary with an average increase of 3.7 percent. Meal plans will increase 4.0 percent. The complete schedule of tuition, fee, and room and board rates can be found at: https://www.luc.edu/bursar/tuitionfees/
The new budget also provides an additional $13 million of University-funded student financial aid. The total amount of student financial assistance of $358 million represents a $35 million increase (11 percent) in student financial assistance over the past two years. In addition, we continue to fund a student financial aid emergency pool available to families whose financial circumstances may have changed and jeopardized the ability of a student to persist and graduate from Loyola.
While the Board of Trustees and University leadership recognize that tuition increases can strain family resources, we continue to honor our multi-year promise to limit any annual increase to no more than 1.5 percent above the 10-year average.
Our top priority in our annual budgeting is to support student success inside and outside the classroom. We recognize that now, more than ever, careful stewardship of your tuition dollars requires that we constantly assess our less critical operating expenses. While costs to attract and retain top notch faculty and staff remains our single largest operating expense, we continue to carefully and strategically reduce our other non-salary operating expenses to achieve greater efficiencies in our service and support for students.
Other highlights of the 2027 budget include:
- We will continue to modestly support our faculty and staff compensation program to ensure that we remain competitive and maintain excellence in the classroom and in our student support services;
- While the University has aggressively extinguished debt and cut our interest expenses for the last several years, the coming year’s budget does anticipate some borrowing to support the completion of our new nursing and science building currently under construction at the Lake Shore Campus. When completed, this building will provide state-of-the-art teaching, laboratory and research facilities for nursing as well as forensic science, chemistry and biochemistry;
- Beginning this summer and continuing through the next two years, we will embark on a multi-campus program to upgrade both the technology and physical infrastructure of our classrooms to stay ahead of changing pedagogy across all academic disciplines;
- Ongoing investments in technology remain important. This coming year, we will upgrade technology systems that support our research enterprise, learning management, and our student information system;
- In our ongoing effort to remove non-essential costs from our operations and achieve greater efficiencies to improve service to students, we will reduce our discretionary non-salary operating budgets across the university by 8 percent. University leadership is confident that these cost reductions will not impact student learning or outcomes. Additionally, we have implemented a more rigorous process to assess and slow staff hiring that first identifies opportunities to streamline business functions or restructure in lieu of job replacement.
The United States higher education environment continues to confront significant headwinds. The demographic decline in the number of college-aged students over the next two decades is among the most challenging. Additionally, federal reductions and restrictions in student loan programs, research grants, and federal work study support are material realities that impact our budget and financial operations. Now, more than ever, universities like Loyola must continually work to control our cost structure while not compromising academic quality nor the support we provide to students who study with us.
As a 45-year employee at Loyola and two-time alum, I can assure you that the leadership team works tirelessly to remain focused on our students while being open to making hard and challenging decisions that require us to adapt to these new realities and remain academically and financially strong. Unlike many universities, we are trying to anticipate the impact of our changing landscape so any decisions we make can be made thoughtfully and strategically.
I am confident that the investment you and your family have made in Loyola University Chicago will pay dividends for your student for decades to come. On behalf of the University’s Board of Trustees, President, faculty, and staff, thank you for the confidence you have placed in us. I personally welcome any questions or feedback from you. My direct email address is: wmagdzi@luc.edu.
Sincerely,
Wayne Magdziarz (BA ‘82, MBA ’87)
Sr. Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Dear Parents and Students,
The Loyola University Chicago Board of Trustees has approved the new operating budget for academic year 2026-2027. The budget sets the University’s full-time undergraduate tuition at $56,930, a 4.4 percent increase from the current year. Mandatory fees and tuition for most graduate programs will also increase by 4.4 percent. Rates for residence halls will vary with an average increase of 3.7 percent. Meal plans will increase 4.0 percent. The complete schedule of tuition, fee, and room and board rates can be found at: https://www.luc.edu/bursar/tuitionfees/
The new budget also provides an additional $13 million of University-funded student financial aid. The total amount of student financial assistance of $358 million represents a $35 million increase (11 percent) in student financial assistance over the past two years. In addition, we continue to fund a student financial aid emergency pool available to families whose financial circumstances may have changed and jeopardized the ability of a student to persist and graduate from Loyola.
While the Board of Trustees and University leadership recognize that tuition increases can strain family resources, we continue to honor our multi-year promise to limit any annual increase to no more than 1.5 percent above the 10-year average.
Our top priority in our annual budgeting is to support student success inside and outside the classroom. We recognize that now, more than ever, careful stewardship of your tuition dollars requires that we constantly assess our less critical operating expenses. While costs to attract and retain top notch faculty and staff remains our single largest operating expense, we continue to carefully and strategically reduce our other non-salary operating expenses to achieve greater efficiencies in our service and support for students.
Other highlights of the 2027 budget include:
- We will continue to modestly support our faculty and staff compensation program to ensure that we remain competitive and maintain excellence in the classroom and in our student support services;
- While the University has aggressively extinguished debt and cut our interest expenses for the last several years, the coming year’s budget does anticipate some borrowing to support the completion of our new nursing and science building currently under construction at the Lake Shore Campus. When completed, this building will provide state-of-the-art teaching, laboratory and research facilities for nursing as well as forensic science, chemistry and biochemistry;
- Beginning this summer and continuing through the next two years, we will embark on a multi-campus program to upgrade both the technology and physical infrastructure of our classrooms to stay ahead of changing pedagogy across all academic disciplines;
- Ongoing investments in technology remain important. This coming year, we will upgrade technology systems that support our research enterprise, learning management, and our student information system;
- In our ongoing effort to remove non-essential costs from our operations and achieve greater efficiencies to improve service to students, we will reduce our discretionary non-salary operating budgets across the university by 8 percent. University leadership is confident that these cost reductions will not impact student learning or outcomes. Additionally, we have implemented a more rigorous process to assess and slow staff hiring that first identifies opportunities to streamline business functions or restructure in lieu of job replacement.
The United States higher education environment continues to confront significant headwinds. The demographic decline in the number of college-aged students over the next two decades is among the most challenging. Additionally, federal reductions and restrictions in student loan programs, research grants, and federal work study support are material realities that impact our budget and financial operations. Now, more than ever, universities like Loyola must continually work to control our cost structure while not compromising academic quality nor the support we provide to students who study with us.
As a 45-year employee at Loyola and two-time alum, I can assure you that the leadership team works tirelessly to remain focused on our students while being open to making hard and challenging decisions that require us to adapt to these new realities and remain academically and financially strong. Unlike many universities, we are trying to anticipate the impact of our changing landscape so any decisions we make can be made thoughtfully and strategically.
I am confident that the investment you and your family have made in Loyola University Chicago will pay dividends for your student for decades to come. On behalf of the University’s Board of Trustees, President, faculty, and staff, thank you for the confidence you have placed in us. I personally welcome any questions or feedback from you. My direct email address is: wmagdzi@luc.edu.
Sincerely,
Wayne Magdziarz (BA ‘82, MBA ’87)
Sr. Vice President and Chief Financial Officer