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Students like Mark Kmasson, a junior majoring in chemical
engineering, and Stacy Mullenhour,
a senior wildlife and forestry major, discuss a recent assignment from their
technical writing
class on the University Park campus.
Photo: Greg Grieco
Penn State's tuition increase this fall will be the lowest in decades for most students. Penn State has expanded existing differential tuition rates to reflect more closely the cost of a student's education. The policy keeps the 1997-98 base tuition increase to 3.7 percent for more than 55 percent of its students -- the lowest general tuition increase since 1968.
Meeting at Penn State Berks, the Board of Trustees on July 11 approved differential tuition rates at the University Park campus and other campus locations for lower- and upper-division undergraduate students, graduate students and for resident and non-resident students. It also increased and expanded tuition surcharges for high-cost programs.
"Most fundamentally, the change we are implementing this year recognizes the higher costs associated with teaching upper-division students -- students who have completed 60 or more course credits," said President Graham B. Spanier. "The in-state tuition increase for lower division students at all Penn State locations is less than $100 per semester or 3.7 percent."
The tuition increase will be slightly higher for upper-division students as the first year of a three-year phase-in of differential tuition. In addition, tuition rates for Pennsylvania resident students in the new colleges at Abington, Altoona and Berks/Lehigh Valley will be brought up to the University Park, Erie and Harrisburg level over several years.
Nearly 40,000 students or 55 percent of the student population will have a tuition increase of 3.7 percent or less; about 13,000 students or 17.6 percent will have an increase between 3.8 percent and 4.5 percent; about 19,000 students or just over 26 percent will have an increase between 4.6 percent and 5.5 percent; and the increase for just 1 percent or 830 students will be 5.6 percent or higher.
* Undergraduate tuition charges per semester for the 1997-98 academic year for in-state associate and lower-division students:
-- $2,816 at University Park, Erie, Harrisburg, Great Valley and Hershey, an increase of $99 over last year's tuition per semester.
-- $2,741 at Altoona, Abington and Berks campuses, an increase of $110.
-- $2,727 at Lehigh Valley, Schuylkill and the 12 campuses of the Commonwealth College, an increase of $96.
* For in-state upper-division students with a minimum of 60 credits the costs are:
-- $2,866 at University Park, Erie, Harrisburg, Great Valley and Hershey, an increase of $149 over last year's tuition per semester.
-- $2,791 at Altoona, Abington, Berks, Lehigh Valley and Schuylkill campuses, an increase of $160.
-- $2,768 the Commonwealth College campuses, an increase of $137.
* Out-of-state lower division undergraduates will pay $6,103 per semester, an increase of $216 at University Park, Great Valley and Hershey; $5,887 with no increase at Erie and Harrisburg; $4,267 a semester at Altoona, Abington and Berks, an increase of $178; and $4,239 a semester at Lehigh Valley, Schuylkill and the Commonwealth College, an increase of $150.
* Out-of-state upper division undergraduates will pay $6,153 or an increase of $266 at University Park, Great Valley and Hershey; $5,937 or an increase of $50 at Erie and Harrisburg; $4,317 or an increase of $228 at Altoona, Abington, Berks, Lehigh Valley and Schuylkill; and $4,280 or an increase of $191 at the Commonwealth College campuses.
* Most in-state graduate students will pay $3,151 or an increase of $112 at University Park, Erie, Harrisburg and Hershey, although MBA students will pay $3,318 or an increase of $279. Out-of-state MBA graduate students will pay $6,657 while those in other programs will pay $6,490.
The surcharge for upper-division students in engineering and related fields at University Park is $225 per semester. Phasing in a similar fee for students in science, the 1997-98 surcharge in science is $75. The surcharge for nursing is $250 per semester.
There will be no change in the student activity fee of $25, but the computer fee for all students will increase from $70 a semester to $75 which will make $606,000 available to expand student access to technology to expand student access to technology.
"Recognizing the higher costs associated with some programs, we are also extending tuition surcharges to science and nursing. Surcharges have been in existence at Penn State for some time for upper-division and graduate students in engineering and engineering technology, earth and mineral sciences, architecture and landscape architecture, " Spanier said. "We feel this is an appropriate approach to support the special laboratory and equipment needs of students in science and the high cost or required clinical experiences in nursing."
By Alan Janesch
Public Information
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has awarded a $1.3 million grant to Penn State to help the University launch its World Campus -- a University-wide initiative with no walls, where learning is accomplished via the Internet and other new information technologies.
To date, the World Campus is on the cutting edge of a growing distance education movement. As envisioned by University leaders, it will be a distinctive outreach campus of the University and will offer a broad spectrum of educational activities to the global community beyond the existing Penn State system.
The grant is one of the largest awards this year in the foundation's "Asynchronous Learning Networks" program, which supports the use of technology to extend educational access to adult learners. ALN is the foundation's term for the use of online computer networks to provide anytime, anywhere access to learning.
"We decided to give significant support to this University-wide initiative because of Penn State's historical commitment to serving the off-campus learner and the vision and commitment of the president and academic leadership," said Frank Mayadas, foundation program officer.
This grant is one of a select few Sloan is making to major universities which will demonstrate how ALN can be scaled up for large enrollments. The foundation, based in New York City, is a philanthropic non-profit institution that last year alone awarded $53 million in grants to organizations and institutions for projects in areas covering technology, science, education and selected national issues.
Penn State's approach to the World Campus is to work with academic units throughout the University to:
* convert existing distance education programs to the World Campus environment and develop new courses where demand is high;
* build and support the World Campus's "technological platform" -- the computer network needed to deliver World Campus courses; and
* conduct ongoing evaluations, which will not only assess how the World Campus is doing but also ensure that innovations developed for the World Campus can be adopted by the rest of the University.
James Ryan, Penn State's vice president for outreach and cooperative extension, said the way to meet the increasing demand for education and training "is not to build more physical campuses, but to create a new approach to education that effectively uses technology."
Penn State expects to have a core set of Penn State programs available through the World Campus by early 1998. By 2002, more than 30 certificate, degree programs and continuing professional education modules -- involving more than 300 individual courses -- will be available through the World Campus.
The $1.3 million grant award represents a continuation of an existing relationship between Penn State and the Sloan Foundation. Earlier, using foundation grants, Penn State developed an ALN that includes a tutoring system for engineers studying for their professional engineering certification and graduate acoustics certification course being developed for an on-demand ALN. A five-course series, it is delivered via CD-ROMs especially created for the acoustics program, Web postings, Internet conferencing, books and e-mail and will be a part of the initial World Campus offering.
When Spanier announced the World Campus initiative in his 1996 State of the University address, he said that "advances in technology are allowing us to expand distance education as a way of dealing with a set of emerging social and economic issues.
By Alan Janesch and Lisa Rosellini
Public Information
The taxability of the tuition reduction benefit offered to many employees of higher education institutions across the nation will soon be the topic of debate by Congress.
Late last month, the House of Representatives passed a bill that could have a major negative impact on college and university employees taking classes with the help of tuition reduction programs -- especially graduate research and teaching assistants. The proposed legislation from the House of Representatives imposes a tax on tuition remission given to students and college employees (Intercom, June 26). If adopted by the full Congress, faculty, staff and students (including graduate students) who receive a tuition reduction would, for the first time, be required to pay federal income taxes on the cash value of the waiver. The tuition reduction benefit is currently allowed under the tax code.
A letter from the president of the nation's umbrella higher education association urging faculty, staff and students to write to Congress over the possible taxation of the tuition reduction benefit has been sent to more than 3,000 college and university presidents and chancellors.
In addition, President Graham B. Spanier has sent a note to all members of the Pennsylvania Congressional delegation, asking them to support the continued tax deductibility of tuition discounts for graduate students, and staff and their dependents.
The letter from Stanley O. Ikenberry, president of the American Council on Education recommends that university presidents communicate more widely with their staff, faculty and students regarding the pending tax issues. Ikenberry encourages members of the campus community to fax their comments to any member of Congress, since the plans have been fast-tracked in order to finish work on them before the August recess. Six presidential higher education associations have endorsed the letter.
In the waning weeks of June, both the House and the Senate passed separate versions of expansive tax bills aimed at helping to balance the federal budget and cut taxes. On June 30, President Clinton also proposed a revised tax plan modifying his previous higher education proposals. Both the Senate's and Clinton's tax plans are friendlier to higher education and do not phase out the tax provision for tuition reduction benefits.
Both the Senate and House bills do include more than $30 billion in a variety of education-related tax incentives and the president's plan contains $45 billion for education-related provisions. However, the House bill not only includes the detrimental provision for taxing the tuition benefit, but also includes a provision to remove the 1986 grandfather clause that exempts TIAA-CREF's pension business from federal tax. This adds $300 million in federal revenue a year, and according to TIAA-CREF, would reduce the retirement income of educators by as much as 3 percent to 5 percent annually. This provision is not in the Senate bill.
The Council of Graduate Schools, the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students, the Association of American Universities and members of the Big Ten, among others, have been working to push for support of the Senate plan (S. 949).
"The House bill (H.R. 2014) runs so counter to every education initiative," said Rodney Erickson, dean of Penn State's Graduate School. "The removal of the tax deductability of tuition discounts to teaching and research assistants at the graduate level, would be absolutely devastating for graduate education."
In his letter to Congress, Spanier seeks support for the Senate plan, saying that the House provisions are "problematic." Referring to the potential loss of the tax-exempt status of the discount, Spanier said, "This would be particularly devastating to graduate students engaged as teaching and research assistants who would find their income reduced to the point that graduate school would no longer be affordable."
Roughly three-quarters of Penn State's tuition reduction grants are used by Penn State staff and their dependents and about one-quarter by faculty and their dependents. Penn State believes that its tuition reduction program is a cost-effective way of helping its employees do their jobs better and of recruiting high-quality faculty and staff.
At Penn State, there is a 100 percent tuition discount for graduate assistants and a 75 percent discount for qualified employees and their spouses and dependents. According to one estimate, if these discounts lose their tax-exempt status, employee and graduate student taxes could amount to more than 20 percent of the value of the discount.
The bills passed by both the House and Senate will now go to a joint conference committee, which resolves the differences in the bills. Members of the conference committee were expected to be named July 11. Final committee action on the bills could be taken in late July or early August.
The sections of the tax code the House bill would eliminate are sections 117 and 127.
Anthony Wagner, director of governmental relations for Penn State, said University employees concerned about the issues should write to any member of the Pennsylvania delegation (see box) to express their views as a private citizen. Employees should not write on Penn State letterhead.
"Voices need to be heard on this particular issue that is of critical importance to Penn State and other institutions," Wagner said.
The Pennsylvania Delegation | |
Congressional members: | |
| Rep. William J. Coyne | Fax: (202) 225-1844 |
| Rep. Phil English | Fax: (202) 225-3103 |
| Rep. John E. Peterson | Fax : (202) 225-5796 |
| Sen. Rick Santorum | Fax: (202) 228-0604 |
| Sen. Arlen Specter | Fax: (202) 228-1229 |
For more information on the House and Senate bills, or to check on updates to the legislation, visit the Web site of the National Association of College and University Business Officers at http://www.nacubo.org/ or the U.S. Senate at http://www.senate.gov/ or the House at http://www.house.gov/
Students from the HUB Arts & Crafts Center take part
in drawing lessons outside of the Creamery on the University Park campus.
The next art session, which runs for a two-week period, begins July 21.
For more information on the classes -- which include painting, drawing,
pottery and more -- call the HUB at 863-0229.
Photo: Greg Grieco
The Gannett Foundation has given the College of Communications $250,000 to renovate space and purchase state-of-the-art technology for a new multimedia classroom -- the "Gannett Foundation Classroom." The gift, which will be spread over a three-year period, is the largest ever given to a university or college by the current Gannett Foundation.
The gift marks the first step toward the fulfillment of the college's goal to consolidate and update its production and audio facilities and equipment. It also will serve as leverage for future gifts toward the creation of a new, unified production facility that will enable the college to better prepare its students for career opportunities in the converging fields of journalism and telecommunications.
The Gannett Foundation Classroom, which will serve as a newsroom, will support the college's online media course and provide more sophisticated training and opportunities for upper-division students. The college will purchase new computers, up-to-date hardware and software, digital editing equipment, fiber optic cable wiring to adjacent audio and video studios and appropriate wire service feeds. The new classroom is expected to be completed during the 199798 academic year.
The Gannett Foundation is a private foundation sponsored by Gannett Co. Inc. In 1996, grants and employee matching gifts totaled nearly $6.4 million.
Shelley Leonard, an undergraduate student in education,
sets the tables at the Nittany Lion Inn for a luncheon for conference attendees.
The Nittany Lion Inn on the University Park campus is the site of about
7,000 conferences per year.
Photo: Greg Grieco
The Penn State athletic program once again showcased its prowess across the board with a fourth straight top 20 finish in the Sears Directors' Cup All-Sports Competition.
The fourth annual survey, an all-sports competition among Division I institutions, is sponsored by Sears, Roebuck & Co., and NACDA, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. The Nittany Lions and Lady Lions earned 520 points in the competition, which awards 64 points for a team which finishes first in an NCAA Championship, 63 points for second and so on.
Stanford earned its third title in the four years of the competition with 1084.5 points while North Carolina placed second (804)
and UCLA placed third (802). The top three were followed by Nebraska (780.5) and Florida (763) to round out the top five.
CBS Sports has announced plans to nationally televise Penn State's football game at Louisville on Sept. 20. The non-conference game will kick off at 12 p.m. in Cardinal Stadium. It is Penn State's second announced television appearance for the 1997 season. The season opener, Sept. 6, with Pitt will be aired regionally by ABC-TV at 3:30 p.m.
Three more Penn State student-athletes have been selected to Academic All-America teams. Men's volleyball National Player-of-the-Year Ivan Contreras was chosen to the GTE-CoSIDA at-large men's spring team and javelin thrower Becky Gusic to the women's at-large team. All-America Jamie Cook. a decathlete, also won his way onto the track Academic All-America squad.
For the latest information on Penn State Sports, visit the official Intercollegiate Athletics site on the Web at http://www.psu.edu/ (click on sports).
Charlie Moritz, a 1991 alumnus, returned to the University
Park campus recently with his family, Elizabeth, left, and Geri. The Moritz
family traveled from Houston for an acoustics seminar, but couldn't resist
a stop at the Penn State Creamery for some ice cream.
Photo: Greg Grieco
