UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State Board of Trustees Committee on Finance, Business and Capital Planning today (Sept. 16) recommended that the University request a state appropriation of $358.2 million for fiscal year 2022-23, representing a $19.3 million increase over 2021-22.
The University’s appropriation request will now go to the full board for a final vote on Sept. 17. If approved by the board, and if the commonwealth provides Penn State with the requested funding, the University’s appropriation would increase by 5.7% overall, from $338.9 million in 2021-22 to $358.2 million in 2022-23. The University’s state appropriation has remained at $338.9 million for the last three academic years.
Funding from the commonwealth is a critical factor that helps to determine Penn State’s reduced in-state tuition rates, which benefit more than 50,000 Pennsylvania resident students each year across all 24 campuses and the World Campus. State appropriations also provide important funding that support Penn State Agricultural Research and Extension, Pennsylvania College of Technology, and Penn State Health and the College of Medicine.
“The University’s land-grant partnership with the commonwealth is invaluable, and increased state support for the next fiscal year would further our commitment to keeping a Penn State education within financial reach for all Pennsylvanians, regardless of background or means,” said Penn State President Eric J. Barron. “Additional state funding also would enhance the ability of Penn State Agricultural Research and Extension to meet the needs and challenges of the agriculture industry and local communities in all 67 Pennsylvania counties; provide continued access to high-quality health care through the Penn State Health enterprise; and drive innovation, entrepreneurship and job creation in communities across the state through Invent Penn State.”
Since 2015, the University has launched 21 innovation hubs that are helping to spur economic activity and support new businesses in Penn State Commonwealth Campus communities statewide. Penn State is requesting $2.35 million in new funding for the Invent Penn State initiative to explore the creation of additional innovation hubs in underserved areas of the commonwealth, grow entrepreneurship programs with additional staffing and support services, and expand access to the Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program to support more businesses.
Overall, Penn State’s appropriation request for 2022-23 includes:
- $254.2 million for the University’s Education and General Budget, an increase of 5%, or $12.1 million, over 2021-22. The General Support appropriation helps Penn State to provide in-state tuition savings for Pennsylvania students that are far greater than the per-student appropriation, helping resident students to graduate with less debt. The appropriation also allows the University to invest in the quality of its academic programs so that it can attract the commonwealth’s best and brightest students.
- $57.7 million for Agricultural Research and Cooperative Extension, an increase of 5%, or $2.75 million. State funding is critical to Penn State’s efforts to address challenges facing the state’s agriculture industry, such as combating destructive and invasive species, safeguarding Pennsylvania animal agriculture, expanding dairy food processing support, implementing water quality solutions, and providing extensive workforce development programs. Agricultural research and extension programs are not supplemented with tuition dollars, so appropriation increases are necessary to keep pace with rising costs and to leverage matching federal and county funding.
- $28.1 million for Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport, an increase of 5%, or $1.3 million, to be used predominantly to support upgrades to laboratory facilities and equipment and expand instructional capacity in high-demand fields, such as the college’s Physician Assistant Studies program.
- $15.9 million for Penn State Health and the College of Medicine, an increase of 5%, or $756,000, for medical assistance funding, with a portion of this funding to be used to support the preparation of medical students for careers in primary care and rural medicine through the development of the Regional Medical Campus at University Park.
- $2.35 million in new funding for economic development extension, in support of economic development activities and the continued growth of the Invent Penn State initiative.
Penn State’s appropriation request will be submitted to the state later this month, and University leadership will be engaged in discussions with Gov. Wolf and legislative leaders in Harrisburg until a final appropriation is set by the General Assembly and governor as part of the state budget process in late June 2022. Once the state appropriation is finalized, Penn State will adopt its 2022-23 operating budget and tuition and fees schedules in July 2022.