Room charges for an undergraduate student living in a standard double room will increase by $135 per semester, from $1,205 to $1,340. The cost for meal plan three, the most common plan of 12 to 13 meals per week, will increase by $60 per semester, from $1,250 to $1,310.

For the 2001-2002 year, these increases bring the average annual room and board cost to $5,300, an increase of 7.9 percent or $390 over the previous year – a large portion of which is needed for the installation of sprinkler systems in all Penn State residential units.

“Housing and food service operations at Penn State are entirely self-supporting, and not subsidized with tax dollars,” said Tom Gibson, assistant vice president for auxiliary and business services.  “In addition to keeping pace with rising costs, these increases are necessary to support our accelerated program of renovations and safety improvements.  Foremost among these improvements is the retrofitting of all residence halls with sprinklers over the next few years, which alone could cost the University more than $50 million.”

The aggressive plan to install sprinklers in each Penn State living unit over the next 10 years is already underway.  Infrastructure has been designed for all Commonwealth Campus residence halls and apartments, as well as all of West Halls, Centre Halls, Nittany Apartments, Graduate Circle Apartments, and four

towers in East Halls on the University Park campus.  Sprinkler installation in these locations is expected to be completed within five years, and constitutes more than 50 percent of the approximately 4 million square feet of living space at Penn State.  “Fire safety continues to be a primary concern, and we are devoting all available resources to this enormous project to ensure a safe learning and living environment for all of our students,” added Gibson.

Gibson also said “Penn State plans on building 1,525 new bed spaces at University Park during 2001-2010, although planned renovations in existing buildings during the same time period will result in a net gain of 800-900 spaces.”

Penn State, with the largest residence hall system in Pennsylvania and one of the largest in the nation, operates 67 residence halls with 16,320 living spaces, and five apartment complexes totaling 1,600 units. Undergraduate residence halls are located at University Park, Altoona, Beaver, Berks, Erie, Harrisburg, Hazleton, McKeesport, and Mont Alto, while graduate housing is available at University Park, Erie, Harrisburg, and Hershey. Nearly 18,000 students live in University residences at campus locations statewide.

Other housing rate changes specific to various campus living units include:

·               Graduate residence hall rates for a standard double room at University Park with a meal plan will increase by $140 a semester per person, from $1,260 to $1,400, while standard double rooms without a meal plan will increase by $150 a semester per person, from $1,395 to $1,545. On-campus graduate students are not required to purchase a meal plan.

·               Room rates for Nittany Apartments at University Park will increase by $155 to $185 per person, for a range of $1,555 to $1,920 a semester, depending on the type of apartment selected. Monthy rates for Eastview and Graduate Circle Apartments will increase by $40 to $60 for a range of $415 to $615 a month per unit, depending on the number of bedrooms and unit selected.

·               At the College of Medicine in Hershey, room rates for University Manor Apartments will increase by $10 to $32 per month for a range of $590 to $1,344 a month per unit, depending on the number of bedrooms and included furnishings and appliances, effective July 1, 2001.

·               At Penn State Erie, apartment rates will increase by $165 from $1,475 to $1,640 per person each semester for four-person garden units.

·               At Penn State Harrisburg, apartment rates will increase by $165 from $1,515 to $1,680 per person each semester for a double room. Family apartment rates at Harrisburg will increase by $70, from $610 to $680 a month per unit.

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Contact:  Tysen Kendig, (814) 865-7517 or e-mail at tysen@psu.edu