July 12, 2001
TUITION AT STATE-OWNED UNIVERSITIES TO INCREASE $224
Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu
The State System of Higher Education’s Board of Governors today approved a $224 increase in resident, undergraduate tuition for the 2001-02 academic year.
The 5.9 percent increase will raise the amount Pennsylvania students will pay next year to attend any of the 14 State System universities to $4,016 for two semesters. Tuition at the schools has increased by slightly less than 4 percent a year over each of the last five years, with an average annual increase of about $130.
The latest increase is needed largely to pay for rising personnel costs, including a nearly double-digit increase in the cost of health care coverage, expected over the next 12 months. Energy costs also are anticipated to be about 10 percent higher in 2001-02 than they were last year.
Personnel costs account for nearly 80 percent of the State System’s more than $1 billion annual operating budget, driving the need to raise tuition.
The System receives about half of its funding from the state. Most of the rest comes from tuition and other student fees.
The Board approved both new tuition rates and the State System’s operating budget at its regular quarterly meeting held today in Harrisburg.
“The State System universities will continue to provide Pennsylvania citizens access to a high-quality, affordable education,” said Board Chairman Charles A. Gomulka. “We are committed to doing all that we can to keep our costs under control while improving our institutions’ operating efficiency.
“At the same time, we are investing heavily in our campuses, making necessary improvements, expanding student services and developing new programs that respond to the Commonwealth’s workforce needs.”
Tuition at the State System universities remains the lowest among all four-year institutions in Pennsylvania. Students, alumni and employers consistently give high marks to the quality of education offered by the schools.
Nearly $15 million in expenditures have been or will be cut from the universities’ budgets during the fiscal year in order to help balance the operating budget. Most of the cuts will be in areas not related to personnel.
The State System will receive $452.8 million in operating funds from the state in 2001-02, plus an additional $17 million to help fund a number of special projects. The Board of Governors will vote in October on how to spend the special project funding. Projects likely to be considered include the development of a shared administrative computer system that will link all 14 State System campuses and the continuation of a performance-funding program that was begun last year.
The shared computer system is being designed to improve services to students and faculty, to increase operating efficiency at the 14 state-owned universities and to produce significant cost savings over the next decade and beyond. It should, over time, make it easier for students to register for classes, to apply for financial aid and to make tuition and other payments.
The performance-funding program was developed to encourage and reward universities for developing programs that respond specifically to the Commonwealth’s workforce needs, for meeting System goals and for producing positive results in the areas of student advancement, finances and diversity.
The new tuition rate for resident undergraduate students will be uniform across the System.
Nonresident undergraduate tuition will range from $6,024 to $10,040 next year, depending on a variety of factors, including the university and program in which a student enrolls. Nine of the 14 universities will offer lower nonresident tuition rates to some students. They are California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven and Mansfield.
The Board’s nonresident tuition policy allows universities to propose reduced nonresident tuition rates in order to help them attract more out-of-state students to campuses with excess capacity. In order to lower its nonresident tuition, a school must show that by doing so it actually will increase its overall revenue.
Full-time resident, graduate tuition at the System universities will increase by $462 in 2001-02, to $4,600 for the full academic year. Nonresident, graduate tuition will increase by $546, to $7,554.
Room and board rates and required fees are determined by each institution’s council of trustees, and vary from campus to campus. The average cost of attending a System university this year, including tuition, room and board and all required fees, was slightly more than $9,000. Students spent, on average, another $500 for books and supplies.
With more than 96,000 students, the State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth. Its 14 universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. More than 360,000 System alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.
The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The System also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and the University Center for Southwest Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh. The regional centers are part of the Educational Resources Group, which is responsible for coordinating statewide programming.