At its June 2000 meeting, the board of trustees postponed consideration of raising tuition and fees because of the lack of final funding information from the state. Discussion turned to an informal proposal to add fees for specific majors—namely, engineering. President Wade Gilley indicated that engineering required more money than what was being provided by the state and compared their differential fee idea to department requirements, such as that of the School of Architecture, which required its students to purchase a computer. No official vote was taken upon whether to implement engineering fees, but the board did vote to support the concept of additional student fees based on the major.
When the board met in July and set the 2000–1 tuition rate (an increase of 8 percent), it also instituted a facilities fee of $25 per semester for in-state students and $150 per semester for out-of-state students. It additionally approved the differential tuition plan for the College of Engineering, setting an engineering course fee of $25 per credit hour with a maximum of $200 per semester in addition to the institutional tuition.
At its February 2010 meeting, the board of trustees approved differential tuition (tuition per credit hour fees) for three colleges—junior and senior students in the College of Nursing, undergraduate business students, and all engineering students—effective for fall 2010. All undergraduate students in the College of Business were assessed an additional $50 per credit hour; all College of Engineering students were assessed an additional $45 per credit hour; and junior and senior students in the College of Nursing were assessed $90 per credit hour. The plan included financial aid and scholarships for those in need.