Penn State Intercom......July 26, 2001

Tuition increase
is 7.76 percent

By Annemarie Mountz
Public Information

The Board of Trustees has approved a 7.76 percent tuition increase for the 2001-02 academic year. This includes a base tuition increase of 5.76 percent and an additional increase of $66 per semester to support special initiatives in salaries and facilities.

"I want to emphasize the factors behind this year's tuition increase," President Graham B. Spanier told the board on July 17. "We have had to turn to tuition to help support five critical areas where we simply must move forward to protect Penn State's quality."

Those five areas are: competitive salary increases; employee benefits; capital improvements, including new facilities, renovations and deferred maintenance; information technology; and academic initiatives.

"I know there is some concern about the level of this year's tuition increase, and I share that concern," Spanier said. "However, without investment in these five areas at the present time, there would be even greater concern about Penn State's academic leadership and educational quality. We cannot afford to lose sight of our basic mission to provide quality education for the Commonwealth."

With tax dollars now supporting less than 15 percent of Penn State's overall budget, the University has had to increasingly turn to tuition revenue to fund those areas. Other areas, including Cooperative Extension and agricultural research, are seeing program cutbacks as a result of this year's state funding levels. This year, tuition money will contribute 29.4 percent of the total budget, with the state appropriation contributing 14.6 percent.

The University also has made internal budget reductions totaling nearly $3.7 million. These reductions amount to 1 percent of the departmental operating budgets of all colleges and support units at University Park, continuing the University's program of budget reductions and reallocations for the 10th consecutive year. Under the cost center budgeting model, each cost center is responsible for reallocating resources internally to address the University's highest priority academic and support unit needs. Other campus locations also reallocate internally to help fund their highest priorities.

The University's tuition increase falls well below the Big Ten average of 10 percent for 2001-02. The increase at the University of Illinois is 18.4 percent for incoming freshmen. At Minnesota, tuition will rise by 13.4 percent.

Tuition for resident lower-division undergraduates at University Park, Erie and Harrisburg will increase by $254 per semester. Tuition for resident lower-division students at Abington, Altoona and Berks will increase by $250 per semester. Students attending the 12 campuses in the Commonwealth College will pay an additional $246 per semester.

For upper-division students at University Park, Erie and Harrisburg, the increase is $267 per semester. At other locations the increase in this category is $257. Graduate students at all locations will see an increase of $284 per semester.

The plan also incorporates the second year of a three-year plan to establish a differential tuition rate for upper-division and graduate students in business administration at the University Park, Abington, Altoona, Erie, Harrisburg and Schuylkill campuses. Tuition for business students will increase this year by an additional $90 per semester to reflect the higher cost of instruction in these programs. Upon completion of the plan, the tuition differential for business students will be equivalent to the laboratory and clinical surcharge which is applied to the tuition of upper-division and graduate students in engineering, science and other selected programs.

Students also will see an additional $15 increase in the current $115 per semester information technology fee. This increase will help to support the rapidly expanding technology needs of the students.

A $3 per semester increase in the student activities fee at participating campuses will generate an estimated $379,000. These funds will be made available to each campus for allocation by its campus student activities fee committee.

The tuition rate increase for doctor of medicine students in the College of Medicine at The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is 7 percent. The tuition increase for Dickinson School of Law students is 7.5 percent.

Annemarie Mountz can be reached at AMountz@psu.edu.

Back