LANSING — A new plan was approved this Wednesday to significantly reduce tuition and address current and future campus efficiencies at Western Michigan University, a press release said.

The plan will cut tuition from the current rate of $1,750 per credit hour to $1,375 per credit hour, a reduction of 21 percent. It was recommended by President and Dean James McGrath to which the university’s Board of Directors agreed.

“We realize that a significant part of providing access to legal education is cost. To put it simply, we became too expensive,” McGrath said.

The new reduction will begin in the fall semester of 2020, giving prospective law students time to consider their options and apply.

“Through effective fiscal management and generous donations, the law school is in a position to make this bold move,” said Board Chair Lawrence P. Nolan.

In addition to the newly-lowered tuition, the Board of Directors will take the steps necessary to seek approval from the American Bar Association and the Higher Learning Commission to close the Auburn Hill campus. The Board also authorized reducing the campus footprint of its Lansing location.

“Our current campus structure was built at a time when the demand for legal education was significantly higher,” McGrath said.

“By reducing our excess capacity we will have improved resources to strengthen our position as a leader of modern legal education.”

The law school’s administration anticipates that the Auburn Hills campus will continue to operate through December 2020, subject to approval of the ABA Council on Legal Education and the Higher Learning Commission.

Each Auburn Hills student will receive additional advising on a degree completion plan.

For more information, visit https://www.cooley.edu/.