Penn State board proposes tuition hike for '17-'18 school year
In a statement, the board explained that the drafting and proposal of the budget comes at a time when the school is unsure of what their future state endowment will look like, given the state legislature's failure "to establish appropriations for state-related universities, such as Penn State" during the budget impasse at the end of June.
Pennsylvania State University students may soon be seeing an increase in their cost of attendance.
On Thursday, the university's Board of Trustees Committee on Finance, Business and Capital Planning proposed an operating budget for the coming school year that, if approved, will increase tuition by 2.74 percent for in-state residents and 3.85 percent for out-of-state residents at the main campus in State College. The proposed tuition increase averages about 2.45 percent for all campuses.
The board will vote on the budget Friday.
In a statement, the board said the drafting and proposal of the budget comes at a time when the school is unsure of what its future state funding will look like, given the legislature's failure "to establish appropriations for state-related universities, such as Penn State" during the budget impasse at the end of June.
"We have moved ahead with our proposed budget despite the uncertainty of our appropriation because the operations of the university must continue, as well as our commitment to students and their families," president Eric Barron said.
Eight of the school's 19 satellite campuses — Beaver, DuBois, Fayette, Greater Allegheny, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Shenango, and Wilkes-Barre — will see no increase in tuition. If the budget is approved, costs will increase at the main University Park campus by about $232 per semester for in-state residents and by about $605 per semester for out-of-state residents. In the previous school year, Pennsylvania residents studying at the University Park campus paid $17,900 in tuition and fees, while out-of-state residents paid $32,382.
Barron on Thursday acknowledged the costly nature of attendance at Penn State and universities in general.
"In building the proposed 2017-18 operating budget, Penn State has placed the highest priority on keeping tuition increases as low as possible, while continuing to provide the highest quality educational experience for students," he said in a statement. "The proposed budget, tuition and fees package reflects the university's comprehensive and ongoing efforts to control the cost of a Penn State degree."
The proposed tuition increase comes a week after similar mark-ups were announced at Pennsylvania's 14 state schools (3.5 percent) and Temple University (2.5 percent), which like Penn State is a state-related university.