WEST LAFAYETTE – Purdue University is freezing its tuition costs for the next two years in response to the nation’s lingering weak economy.

The freeze announced Friday means the cost of basic in-state tuition at Purdue will remain about $10,000 a year until the end of the 2014-15 school year. The last year without a tuition increase at Purdue was 1976. Tuition increases during the past 10 years have averaged about 6 percent, according to a Purdue news release.

“In this period of national economic stagnation, it’s time for us to hit the pause button on tuition increases,” Purdue President Mitch Daniels said in a written statement.

Under the freeze, the current base tuition for Indiana and out-of-state students on the West Lafayette campus will remain unchanged for two years. In the next few weeks, Purdue will announce a savings plan with a focus on administrative efficiency.

The freeze applies only to Purdue’s campus in West Lafayette. Regional campus tuition is determined separately based on factors such as enrollment, programs offered and the state funding for that campus.

“I have found a broad consensus among faculty and staff to put the interests of our students and their families first,” Daniels said in a statement. “Our students and their families deserve a high-value education that they can afford. We will fit our spending to their budgets – not the other way around.”