UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Starting with the spring 2020 semester, Penn State will eliminate the Information Technology Fee as a separate line item on the student bill and instead incorporate the fee as part of the tuition rate. This action will not impact overall cost.
Students will see no change in computer- and technology-related services as a result of this change. Beginning in spring 2020, the Information Technology Fee will be eliminated, while the tuition fee will rise by the same amount, meaning there will be no impact to students’ financial bottom lines.
The Information Technology Fee currently is $252 per semester for full-time students, and a lesser amount for part-time students. The fee has been held at $252 per semester since the 2014-15 academic year, and it has been a goal to simply fold the fee into tuition since that time.
“When this fee was introduced nearly 30 years ago, the University needed a dedicated and immediate revenue stream to fund newly emerging computer technology,” said Nick Jones, Penn State executive vice president and provost. “Today, the infrastructure supported by the Information Technology Fee is as integral to the operation of the University as any other cost that is supported by tuition, negating the need for a separate line item. This change also brings us into alignment with budgeting practices common to many other institutions of higher education.
“Even as the Information Technology Fee merges with tuition into a single line item on the student bill, the University remains committed to providing students with access to cutting-edge technology, without adding to the overall cost of a Penn State degree.”
For the fall 2019 semester, students will continue to see the Information Technology Fee listed on their bill in LionPATH, but there will be a note reminding them that the fee will be incorporated into tuition starting with the spring 2020 semester. Once this change takes effect, the only remaining mandatory fee, outside of tuition and, for some students, room and board, will be the Student Initiated Fee, which is set by the student fee boards at University Park and the Commonwealth Campuses and is entirely student-managed in support of activities, services, facilities and recreation to improve student life at each campus.
“The elimination of the Information Technology Fee as a separate charge has been under consideration for a number of years,” Jones said. “Students have expressed a desire to bring all student fees under their control, so we felt it was time to fold the fee into tuition in order to simplify students’ bills and eliminate additional fees beyond the Student Initiated Fee, making it easier for students and their parents to more clearly understand the cost of a Penn State education.”
Tuition and fee schedules for the 2019-20 academic year, which include a second consecutive tuition freeze for Pennsylvania resident undergraduate students, were adopted by the Penn State Board of Trustees at its July 18 meeting at Penn State Brandywine.
Students or families who have questions about their student account statement can contact the Bursar’s office at https://bursar.psu.edu/contact-us.