Administration

Why state funding for Penn State matters to Pennsylvanians

State funding, and the in-state tuition rate it enables, encourages students to stay in Pennsylvania and helps them to earn a life-changing Penn State degree for significantly less money. Approximately 45,000 Pennsylvania resident undergraduates and their families each save more than $13,000 on tuition annually because of Penn State's in-state tuition discount.   Credit: Penn State Behrend / Penn State. Creative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Dating back to Penn State’s founding and its designation as Pennsylvania’s land-grant institution, the University has enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial partnership with the commonwealth. From offering affordable access to a top education, to the resources and programs of Penn State Extension, to providing quality health care via Penn State Health, state support helps Penn State to impact lives across Pennsylvania.  

Access to a world-class Penn State education and the life-changing opportunities it provides would not be possible for thousands of Pennsylvania students without the affordability of the University’s in-state tuition rate. And in-state tuition would not be possible without the funding that Penn State receives from the commonwealth in support of its education mission. That funding directly benefits 45,000 Pennsylvania resident students and their families every year, saving them each, on average, more than $13,000 annually on the cost of tuition.

Nora O’Toole, a cybersecurity operations and analytics major from Pittsburgh, is one of those students who rely on the in-state tuition discount in order to attend Penn State:

State funding allows Penn State to offer an in-state tuition discount that saves the average Pennsylvania resident $13,000 per year. For student Nora O’Toole, attending Penn State wouldn’t have been possible without the affordability of in-state tuition. 

In-state tuition is particularly vital to Penn State’s 19 undergraduate Commonwealth Campuses, where 80% of the approximately 25,000 students are Pennsylvania residents. With 96% of Pennsylvanians living within 30 miles of a Penn State location, Penn State’s Commonwealth Campus structure provides the opportunity for thousands of Pennsylvania students to obtain an affordable, world-class education right in their home communities.  

For generations, Penn State’s campuses have been key centers of education, culture and employment in the communities they serve, and they are valued local resources in places like New Kensington: 

At Penn State’s Commonwealth Campuses, where 80% of students are Pennsylvania residents, state support for in-state tuition is vital. Watch as Penn State New Kensington’s Matthew Heavner shares why affordable, local access to a top education matters to Pennsylvania communities. 

With more than 380,000 Penn State alumni living and working in Pennsylvania, Penn State trains the state’s workforce like no other entity in the commonwealth. Funding from the state helps Penn State to keep more young people in Pennsylvania, as it enables the University to stay on the leading edge of the latest career trends and provide students with access to the highest-quality facilities, faculty and programs to prepare them for successful careers in Pennsylvania.

Penn State also relies on state funding for the College of Agricultural Sciences and Penn State Extension to provide science-based research, education, information and programming for the agriculture industry in all 67 Pennsylvania counties.

State funding is integral to Penn State’s work to support agricultural education, serve the needs of rural communities, and help to address the challenges facing the state’s agriculture industry. These efforts include combating invasive species like the spotted lanternfly, safeguarding Pennsylvania animal agriculture from diseases like avian influenza, providing businesses with workforce development programs, and helping to improve rural communities’ broadband access, to name just a few.

Penn State alumnus Jim Shirk, a ninth-generation farm owner from Lancaster County, shares how access to information and resources from the College of Agricultural Sciences and Penn State Extension have allowed his family farm to not only survive, but thrive. 

In addition, state dollars provide important funding for Pennsylvania College of Technology, a special-mission Penn State affiliate in Williamsport with a focus on applied-technology education, as well as for Penn State Health and the Penn State College of Medicine, which provide thousands of Pennsylvanians with access to high-quality medical care.

For the 2022-23 fiscal year, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has proposed a 5% funding increase for Penn State, as well as $2.35 million in new funding for economic development through Invent Penn State.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has proposed $2.35 million in state funding for Invent Penn State. Watch as Penn State biomedical engineering major Sydney Gibbard explains how Invent Penn State has helped to grow her nonprofit, Girls Code the World.   

 

Learn more about the governor’s proposed funding for Penn State here. It is anticipated that the Pennsylvania General Assembly will consider Penn State’s funding before the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

Additional information about the significance of state funding for Penn State, its students, and the communities it serves can be found in these Penn State News articles:

 

Stay up to date on all of Penn State’s legislative priorities, and voice support for the University’s state funding, at the Advocate Penn State website.

Last Updated June 2, 2022

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