While colleges across the country keep raising prices, Coppin State University is doing the opposite.
Coppin State University announced on June 29, 2026, that residential students will see lower costs starting in the 2026-2027 academic year. Coppin State University lowers costs through a newly negotiated food service agreement that cuts board plan rates by approximately 12%. The university will also hold mandatory student fees flat. At a time when families across Maryland and the nation are watching higher education costs climb, Coppin is moving in a different direction entirely.
What Is Actually Changing
The math behind this announcement is simple, and that is exactly the point.
Beginning next academic year, Coppin’s annual board cost will drop to approximately $4,875. That figure is now lower than every four-year public institution in Maryland. The university is not raising mandatory student fees either, which means residential students will see real, measurable savings without any offsetting cost increase hidden somewhere else in their bill.
President Anthony L. Jenkins did not mince words about how rare this move actually is. “When was the last time you heard of a university lowering costs? This is about putting students first,” Jenkins said. He continued: “At a time when families are facing rising costs for food, housing, transportation, and other necessities, we are doing everything we can to make college more affordable. Higher education remains one of the most powerful pathways to opportunity, and we want to ensure that cost is not a barrier to our students’ success.”
Affordability That Is Already Working
This is not Coppin’s first move toward making college more accessible, and the results back up the strategy.
Coppin State recently reported a record 24,000 undergraduate applications for the upcoming academic year — the highest number in the university’s 126-year history. The school also posted a 75% retention rate, also a record high. Perhaps most striking, Coppin reported a 77% male retention rate, significantly above the national average for Black male students at a moment when HBCU male enrollment nationally has dropped 25% over the past 15 years.
Coppin is now the fastest-growing institution in Greater Baltimore and Maryland’s leading HBCU for male enrollment growth. Affordability is clearly part of why.
Dr. James Stewart, Associate Vice President for Student Development and Achievement, connected the dots directly. “Affordability is one of the most important factors influencing whether students enroll, persist, and ultimately graduate,” Stewart said. “When institutions reduce financial barriers, students are better positioned to focus on their academics, engage in campus life, and complete their degrees without the constant burden of financial stress. At Coppin, affordability is directly connected to student success.”
More Than Just Lower Costs
The board plan reduction is part of a broader package of student success initiatives designed to help students reduce the overall cost of earning a degree.
Students who complete 30 semester credit hours during the academic year can now receive up to six credit hours of free summer tuition through a program designed to accelerate progress toward graduation at little additional cost. Combined with programs like Summer SOAR, which provides academic advising and coaching support, and SASA, a summer bridge program that helps incoming students transition successfully into college life, Coppin is building a comprehensive support system rather than relying on a single fix.
Why This Matters for HBCU Affordability Nationwide
HBCUs have always operated as some of the most affordable pathways to a four-year degree, but that affordability often comes at the cost of thinner institutional budgets and fewer resources than predominantly white institutions receive. Coppin’s decision to actively lower costs, rather than simply hold the line, sends a different kind of message.
Jenkins framed the announcement as part of a much longer institutional story. “As Baltimore’s Hometown University, Coppin’s mission has always centered on transforming lives through education,” he said. “This record-breaking interest signals that more students than ever are looking to Coppin as a place where they can thrive academically, professionally, and personally.”
What This Means Going Forward
For prospective students weighing their options, a lower board plan cost combined with record retention rates and a flat fee structure makes Coppin’s pitch increasingly difficult to ignore. The university is proving that affordability and growth are not opposing goals. They can move together.
Coppin is standing on what Jenkins called a promise made 126 years ago: to nurture potential and transform lives. In 2026, that promise comes with a lower price tag attached.
