Brigham Young University hikes tuition

Brigham Young University will increase tuition by 3.1 percent next school year, a bump roughly equal to this year's increase.

Students who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, owner of the Provo-based school, will pay $5,000 in annual tuition in 2014-15, an increase of $75 a semester.

The extra money will cover "cost increases such as salaries, payroll benefits, travel, supplies, library and laboratory materials, etc.," according to a BYU statement released Thursday.

That tuition is cheaper than what in-state students pay at three of the state's public universities: the University of Utah, Utah State University and Southern Utah University.

Non-Mormon students at BYU, however, pay double, or about $10,000 next year, since "a significant portion of the cost of operating the university is paid from the tithes of [the LDS Church]," according to the school's website.

Exactly how those costs break down isn't clear.

"We don't divide what is paid for through tuition and through the support of the church," said BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins.

Though the state's public universities haven't yet set tuition rates for the next academic year, BYU has had smaller tuition increases than public schools in recent years. The bump for the eight Utah System of Higher Education schools averaged 5 percent in 2013-14, though that was a smaller increase than in years past when public funding for higher education took a beating during the recession.

BYU had about 33,300 students last year, though the size of the student body dropped about 10 percent this year due to lowered age requirements for LDS missionaries.

The decline didn't affect the tuition increase, though, Jenkins said.

lwhitehurst@sltrib.com

Twitter: @lwhitehurst