University president and cabinet speak at State of the Campus address about tuition, bookstore updates and more

From left to right: Bernard Bull, David Kumm, Derek Engelbart, Gene Brooks, Tim Preuss, Kim Boyce.

Photo credit: Alison Galchutt

By Nora Betts

Managing Editor

Concordia’s President Bernard Bull gave a State of the Campus Address at Tuesday’s Student Senate meeting, where he highlighted upcoming plans for the campus bookstore, tuition increases, housing and more.

A crowd of more than 40 students attended the address, which is a tradition that has not happened since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Senate officers.

Five members of Bull’s presidential cabinet also spoke at the meeting: Chief Financial Officer Dave Kumm; Chief Operating Officer Kim Boyce; Vice President for Student Affairs Gene Brooks; Vice President of Institutional Advancement Derek Engelbart; and Provost Tim Preuss. The other two cabinet members not in attendance were Lisa Owens, administrative assistant for the president and provost, and campus chaplain Pastor Ryan Matthias.

Bookstore and Fan Shop

Concordia’s bookstore will look different beginning next semester due to a contract with a new vendor, Boyce said. The company Akademos will replace the current bookstore operator, Follett, and change the way that students access textbooks.

Students can now begin opting in or out of book fees for each semester. Instead of buying individual textbooks from a campus bookstore, students who opt into the program will receive all of their books for the semester in one bundle before classes start. Students can opt in and out by semester, but not by class.

For students who opt in, a standard book fee of $20 per credit hour will be reflected on their Student Account portal. Only the classes requiring textbooks will be charged. Students opting out of the book fee will have that fee waived.

For example, a student who takes 18 credit hours and whose classes all require textbooks will pay a flat $360 for the semester and receive those books in a physical or digital bundle at the start of the semester. A student who takes 18 credit hours but only has nine credits requiring textbooks will pay $180 for the semester.

Beginning in the Fall 2025 semester, Concordia will not have a physical bookstore for students to buy textbooks. Students opting out of the book fee will be on their own to explore alternate vendors like Amazon, since textbooks through Concordia can only be shipped in bundles per semester.

Boyce said the goal of the new textbook model is to save students money and make the textbook ordering process easier. Because the textbook requirements are pre-loaded by professors, students will no longer have to order any of their own books, he said.

According to Boyce, the bookstore has not been beneficial for students in recent years. Student participation with the bookstore has decreased to less than half of what it was three years ago, he said.

“What that told us as a leadership group is that it’s not much of a benefit for you, or else you would be using it,” Boyce said. “So, let’s figure out a way that we can have something that is a benefit for you, a benefit for the university, and a benefit for our faculty.”

Even though Concordia will no longer have a bookstore, it will maintain a Fan Shop with apparel and other merchandise, Boyce said. The new contract with Akademos gives Concordia control over hiring workers, designing merchandise and pricing products.

“This was a prerequisite when we were shopping for vendors,” said Boyce. “We will manage our own store, we will find our own merchandise, we will price it ourselves, we’re going to have things that people actually want to buy.”

Bull said he is excited to see more opportunities for student-created apparel designs in the Fan Shop, like T shirts for events and fundraisers.

Tuition Increase

Bull said that undergraduate tuition for the 2025-2026 academic year is increasing by $1,700 and that the dorm room cost is increasing by $500, compared with the current academic year. Tuition hikes help Concordia pay for staff and faculty’s insurance, utilities and other cost-of-living expenses, Bull said.

“The reason [tuition] goes up is not to generate extra profit or money for the university as much as it is to cover the costs of faculty or staff,” said Bull. “The only way that they can get an increase in pay with the cost of living and other things like that is with a change in tuition and the like.”

Scholarships and endowments given to Concordia reduce the cost of attendance for each student by more than $5,000 every year, Bull said. Concordia raises around three million dollars each year for operating expenses and scholarships “to keep the doors open and make sure we’re serving you and trying to keep the costs as low as we can,” said Bull.

Engelbart said his team is working to build Concordia’s endowment fund from $68 million in 2023 to more than $100 million in the coming years. With an endowment fund, the money is invested, and Concordia is allowed to use 4.5 percent of it every year.

Dorms and Enrollment

Bull said dorm renovations are on a continuous cycle, which will restart in a few years after Obed, Streiter and Shuelke Halls are updated. He said one possible renovation would be connecting Strieter Hall and Shuelke Hall on the west side of campus and adding more rooms.

Concordia plans to cap its enrollment between 1,300 and 1,350 students, Bull said. If that capacity is reached in the next few years as Bull predicts, Concordia will implement a waitlist for incoming students.

“It may be within the next few years [that] students who really want to get here and may even be quite qualified– there might not be a spot for all of them in the future,” said Bull. “We don’t want to turn people away, but we also want to make sure that we are maintaining our unique culture and community, and the reality is that, even if people want to live off campus, there are only so many rental options available in the town of Seward.”

The Student Life Office is analyzing how full campus housing will be as students enter the fall semester, according to Brooks.

A 2024 adjustment to Concordia’s housing policy permits students to live off-campus if they have been a student for three years and are age 21 by December of the given academic year. Brooks said that if on-campus housing becomes too limited, SLO may remove the age provision and change the requirement to live on campus for two years instead of three. Brooks said housing analysis is ongoing and that no changes are currently being made.

Brooks said Concordia was intended to be a residential campus. He said students who live off-campus tend to be less connected to Concordia’s community, but if an enrollment cap is reached, SLO may choose to change off-campus housing requirements to accommodate a high number of students.

CIT

Bull said that he and the president of Concordia University Chicago have agreed to pursue ways to continue the Concordia Invitational Tournament, a basketball competition with a 72-year history. CIT will have a one-year hiatus for the presidents of CUNE and CUC to examine what the tournament could look like, Bull said. Read this latest article about CIT for more information.

Student Experience Survey

Bull highlighted the results of a Student Experience Survey given in November of 2024 that received 486 student responses. 93 percent of respondents said they have a good or great overall experience at Concordia, and 75 percent said they have grown in faith since being at college.

The survey results showed that students’ number one barrier to community was social anxiety and isolating oneself, which has been the top response three years in a row.

An October 2024 survey of first-year students showed that the top reason for picking Concordia was that it is a Christ-centered university.