WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Board of Directors today approved a $157.3 million budget for 2021-22, one that features no increase in tuition and fees for students and an increase of less than 1% in spending over 2020-21.
The budget includes a flat (no increase) state appropriation of $26.7 million, accounting for 17% of the total budget and 24% of the operating budget, which is $112.7 million for 2021-22.
In 2021-22, the in-state rate for tuition and fees will remain at $587 per credit hour, the same as in 2020-21. A full-time Pennsylvania resident student enrolled for the typical two 15-credit semesters in 2021-22 will again pay $17,610 in tuition and fees.
Tuition and fees for out-of-state students remain at $839 per credit hour for 2021-22. A full-time, nonresident student enrolled for two 15-credit semesters will again pay a total of $25,170 in tuition and fees.
There will be no increase in the 2021-22 Residence Life rates for any of the apartment/room configurations offered by the college to its on-campus students.
Similarly, the cost for all of Dining Services’ meal plan options will remain the same in 2021-22 as this year.
“While COVID-19 had a substantial impact on our budget this year, we are particularly mindful of the corresponding financial impact the pandemic had on Penn College students and their families,” President Davie Jane Gilmour said. “Accordingly, we committed early in the 2021-22 budgeting process to no increase in tuition and fees and no rise in the rates charged for on-campus housing and meal plans. It is simply the right thing to do in these extraordinary times.”
Rates for tuition and fees represent the bulk of Penn College’s budget revenues. A student’s annual costs are based on per-credit-hour fees: The number of credits for which a student is registered determines the actual cost.
The budget projects credit-hour production will decrease 5% in 2021-22.
Just over 91% of Penn College students received financial aid to assist with their college costs, based on the latest available (2019-20) data.
The auxiliary budgets for the Dunham Children’s Learning Center, Dining Services, The College Store, Residence Life and Workforce Development total $26.37 million in the 2021-22 budget.
The restricted current fund budget – which includes grants, contracts and restricted donations for which outside entities (such as governmental agencies) direct the use of the money – is $19.52 million.
Capital expenditures are budgeted at $4 million, a decrease of $2.3 million from 2020-21.
The budget includes a 1.85% salary increase for faculty members, called for by the collective bargaining agreement with the Penn College Education Association. A similar increase is budgeted for staff. The budget reflects the elimination of 19 full-time employee positions and the addition of three positions for a net reduction of 16 positions overall.
Also featured in the 2021-22 budget are voluntary gifts of $100,000 to the City of Williamsport and $35,000 to the Williamsport Area School District. These gifts are reevaluated annually.
For more about Penn College, a special mission affiliate of Penn State and a national leader in applied technology education, visit www.pct.edu, email admissions@pct.edu or call 800-367-9222.