Bloglander

As mandated by the state Legislature, Eastern Washington University has cut undergraduate tuition for the second year in a row. 

The university announced Friday that its Board of Trustees has lowered tuition rates for the 2016-17 academic year by 15 percent. Following a five percent reduction last year, that means tuition has dropped by 20 percent in two years. 

The lower tuition rates are the result of the state Legislature increasing spending on higher education in the two-year state budget passed last year. The budget promised a 15 percent reduction in tuition at the University of Washington and Washington State University, and a 20 percent reduction at Eastern, Western and Central Washington Universities. 

EWU undergraduate students will pay $5,994 per year, or just $1,998 per quarter next school year. That's down from $7,052 annually last year. 

The EWU board also approved a capital budget that includes more than $44 million for the renovation of the Pence Union Building on campus. The university will issue bonds to finance the PUB improvements, according to an EWU news release.