Internal cost savings help keep increase to a minimum
Hazleton, Pa. - Penn State will implement a basic 9.8 percent tuition increase -- $394 per semester at University Park -- for resident students for the 2003-04 academic year to help offset three years of cuts in state appropriation and significant cost increases, including an estimated 5 percent cut for the upcoming year that is pending in the state legislature.
The increase for non-resident students at University Park will be 6.9 percent per year, or $591 per semester. The lower percentage increase for non-resident students is because they are expected to pay the full cost of their education, which is approximately double the resident tuition. This figure is not influenced by legislative appropriation.
The University's Board of Trustees approved the new rate schedule at their regular meeting today (July 11) at Penn State Hazleton. An aggressive internal effort to identify cost savings and increased non-tuition revenues, driven in part by a steady decrease in the levels of state funding received by Penn State over the past three decades, has yielded $14.4 million that will directly benefit students in the form of a tuition increase avoidance of 2.7 percent for the coming year - or more than $200 per year for all full-time students.
"The cost of attending Penn State is a concern for all of us, and is certainly higher than most of our students would like. However, we remain committed to finding new ways to offset the declining state support while maintaining the high quality of a Penn State education," said University President Graham B. Spanier.
The estimated state appropriation of $306.4 million represents a 5 percent decrease over last year - and a total of $45 million in real dollars cut from Penn State's budget over the past two years. In the coming year, state appropriations are expected to represent approximately 12 percent of the University's overall budget, as Penn State continues to rank last among all public universities in Pennsylvania and the Big Ten in the amount of funding received from the state per full-time equivalent student.
The tuition increase, however, falls below that of several other public universities around the nation. In the Big Ten, double-digit tuition hikes have been announced by the University of Iowa (19 percent), University of Wisconsin (18 percent), Ohio State University (14 percent), University of Minnesota (13 percent) and Michigan State University (10 percent).
The approved base increases for 2003-04 bring the yearly tuition cost for continuing lower division students from Pennsylvania attending the University Park, Altoona, Berks, Erie and Harrisburg campuses to $8,796. Continuing lower-division in-state resident students at the Abington, Lehigh Valley, Schuykill and Commonwealth College campuses will pay $8,520 in base tuition annually.
A complete listing of Penn State's tuition rate schedules may be accessed at http://www.tuition.psu.edu
Tuition supports more than one-third of Penn State's proposed $2.55 billion budget in 2003-04. Budget increases include funds for escalating health care and other insurance costs, facilities needs and provisions for modest salary increases for faculty, staff, and graduate assistants. Health care costs are increasing dramatically, as are the costs of property and liability insurances. Funds also are included for the maintenance and operation of new and newly remodeled facilities scheduled to come on-line in 2003-04.
The budget continues the multi-year commitment to support the new School of Information Sciences and Technology and planned additional support for three interdisciplinary academic program initiatives of strategic importance to the Commonwealth: environmental studies, materials science and children, youth and families. An increase in the student information technology fee will provide critically needed funds for improvements in libraries and information technology.
The full Penn State budget may be accessed at http://www.budget.psu.edu
In March, the Board of Trustees approved an average room and board cost of $5,940 for 2003-04 - an increase of 4.9 percent or $280 per year for standard housing and the most common meal plans. The increase reflects a commitment to improve safety systems and quality of student life, and addresses projected inflationary increases in food and utilities costs and maintenance expenses. It also helps defray an ongoing $50 million sprinkler installation project in all Penn State residences statewide, expected to be completed in 2010.