HARRISBURG, Pa. – The Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education approved an $89 per semester tuition increase Thursday for the 2016-17 academic year.
The increase is the smallest percentage tuition increase in more than a decade (2005-06), according to PASSHE.
The increase will set the base tuition rate for most full-time Pennsylvania resident – who comprise about 90 percent of all State System students – at $3,619 per semester or $7,238 for a full year. In addition to the base tuition, every full-time student will pay a $448 technology fee.
Nonresident, undergraduate tuition also will increase by 2.5 percent and will range from $10,858 to $18,096 for the 2016-17 academic year. Nonresident full-time students will pay $682 technology fee.
The resident, graduate tuition rate will be $483 per credit, an increase of $13. The nonresident, graduate tuition rate will increase by $20 per credit, to $725.
According to a release from PASSHE, the 14 State System universities have eliminated nearly $300 million in expenditures from their combined operating budgets over the last decade in order to balance their budgets and to help hold down student costs. The commonwealth, meanwhile, has boosted funding to the State System by about $31.5 million over the last two years under governor Tom Wolfe, after seven straight years of flat or reduced general fund appropriations.
“The universities have worked extremely hard to control their day-to-day operating costs, even in the face of enormous fiscal challenges,” said Cynthia D. Shapira, newly elected Board of Governors chair. “Many of those challenges remain; but, with the benefit of increased funding from the state again this year, the board was able to approve a very modest tuition increase for next year.
“We are grateful to the legislature and Gov. Wolf for the increased investment in our students and our universities, and we pledge to make the most of that investment, to help ensure our students have continued access to high-quality, high-value educational experiences that will lead to their future success.”
The recently passed 2016-17 state budget includes about $444.2 million for the State System, up from about $412.8 million in 2014-15. The system received an approximately $20.6 million increase last year and will get an additional $10.8 million this year.
“The funding we receive from the state represents an important investment that benefits not only our students, but also the commonwealth, where the vast majority of our students reside and where they will remain after graduation to live, work and raise their families,” said Chancellor Frank T. Brogan. “Their success is very much tied to Pennsylvania’s success.”
Even with the consecutive increases in commonwealth support, the State System will receive about $60 million less from the state this year than it did in 2007-08.
Copyright © 2024 EYT Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of the contents of this service without the express written consent of EYT Media Group, Inc. is expressly prohibited.
