ATLANTA — Mercer University’s Board of Trustees, meeting on the Cecil B. Day Graduate and Professional Campus in Atlanta, today adopted a record $302.7 million operating budget for 2023-24, exclusive of more than $50 million in federal research grants, and approved two new undergraduate degree programs.
Continuing more than a decade of below-market annual tuition increases, trustees voted to limit the tuition increase for Macon undergraduate programs to 3% for 2023-24. The School of Medicine and the College of Nursing will have no tuition increases in their undergraduate and graduate programs for 2023-24. Law students will see a 2% increase next year. Tuition increases for most other programs range from 0% to 3%.
Trustees approved a new Bachelor of Arts degree in anthropology that will be offered by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in Macon beginning in the fall. The new major will provide solid grounding in methodological and theoretical approaches to understanding human cultural diversity and will complement other programs in the College.
The Board also approved a new Bachelor of Science in Education in Computer Science Education that will be offered by the College of Education on the Macon campus. This new program will prepare K-12 educators in the curricular, instructional and assessment practices in computer science education. Senate Bill 108 that was recently passed in the General Assembly, and the Governor’s Office, have together implemented an initiative to support computer science education in Georgia by requiring computer science in middle and high schools across the state. The new degree program will help meet the demand for additional computer science teachers.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the Board unanimously adopted a resolution, introduced by Trustee David Hudson, honoring Mercer Life Trustee Jimmy Carter. The resolution read, “The Trustees of Mercer University, meeting this 14th day of April 2023, hereby express our profound admiration and gratitude to our fellow Trustee President Jimmy Carter. His lifetime epitomizes the Mercer vision to change the world to be better. It is our prayer that God’s mercy and blessings continue to be with President Carter, Rosalynn and their family during these days and forever.”
About Mercer University
Founded in 1833, Mercer University is a dynamic and comprehensive center of undergraduate, graduate and professional education. With approximately 9,000 students enrolled in 12 schools and colleges, on major campuses in Macon and Atlanta; medical school sites in Macon, Savannah and Columbus; and at regional academic centers in Henry and Douglas counties, Mercer is ranked among the top tier of national research universities by U.S. News & World Report. The Mercer Health Sciences Center includes the University’s School of Medicine and Colleges of Nursing, Health Professions and Pharmacy. Mercer is affiliated with five teaching hospitals – Atrium Health Navicent The Medical Center and Piedmont Macon Medical Center in Macon; Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah; and Piedmont Columbus Regional Hospital and St. Francis-Emory Healthcare in Columbus. The University also has an educational partnership with Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins. It operates an academic press and a performing arts center in Macon and an engineering research center in Warner Robins. Mercer Medicine, the clinical faculty practice of the School of Medicine, is based in Macon and operates additional clinics in Sumter, Peach, Clay, Putnam and Harris counties. Mercer is one of only 293 institutions nationwide to shelter a chapter of The Phi Beta Kappa Society, the nation’s most prestigious academic honor society; one of eight institutions to hold membership in the Georgia Research Alliance; and the only private university in Georgia to field an NCAA Division I athletic program. www.mercer.edu
