The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s (PASSHE) Board of Governors today approved a 2 percent tuition increase for the 2005-06 academic year, the smallest increase in seven years, and the third smallest increase in the System’s more than 20-year history.

The Board approved a $96 increase for full-time, resident undergraduate students next year, setting the new rate at $4,906 – the lowest among all four-year colleges and universities in Pennsylvania.

“We are extremely pleased to be able to keep student tuition as low as possible while assuring our Universities will continue to offer the high-quality education our students expect and deserve,” said Board Chairman Kenneth M. Jarin.

PASSHE Chancellor Judy G. Hample cited PASSHE’s “close working partnership” with Governor Rendell and his staff as a critical factor in keeping the increase in student tuition to 2 percent.

“Governor Rendell, the members of the Board of Governors, PASSHE University presidents, and I share a desire to keep tuition as affordable as possible,” Hample said. “It was, however, the Governor’s personal encouragement to explore more closely several cost-saving opportunities that helped us get to the point where we are able to hold our tuition increase to under $100.

“We are grateful for the Governor’s vision, his personal interest and fruitful suggestions and ideas. Students and their families owe him a debt of gratitude.”

PASSHE received a boost in state funding earlier this month when the Legislature approved and Governor Edward G. Rendell signed the 2005-06 Commonwealth budget. PASSHE will receive $445.4 million from the Commonwealth to support its basic operations this year, an increase of almost $12 million, or 2.75 percent more than it received in 2004-05.

PASSHE has taken significant steps in recent years to control rising costs in order to help keep tuition affordable, including negotiating limited employee wage increases and significant changes to health benefits, implementing energy savings initiatives and taking advantage of the Rendell Administration’s strategically sourced contracts to secure lower prices. Over the past five years, these cost- containment initiatives have reduced base costs across the System by more than $100 million.

"Our Universities have responded remarkably well to the fiscal challenges they have faced in recent years,” Jarin said. “At the same time, they have continued to improve academically and to respond to the changing needs of their students and of Pennsylvania employers.”

In addition to the base appropriation, PASSHE will receive approximately $20 million in separate funding from the Commonwealth this year to help support a variety of special programs, including performance funding, diversity initiatives and teacher excellence.

The Board of Governors approved using $8.9 million in special funding to support PASSHE’s five-year-old performance funding program, which encourages and rewards the Universities for demonstrating success and continued improvement in key areas related to student achievement, University excellence and operational efficiency. The $8.9 million in special funding will be combined with a portion of the base appropriation to make available a total of $31.2 million for performance funding in 2005-06.

The remainder of the special funding will be allocated as follows:

• $5 million to support the continued development of PASSHE’s integrated information system.
• $1.6 million for diversity and equal opportunity programs.
• $1.45 million for programs to improve the quality of preparation of elementary and early childhood educators and to enhance the skills of current teachers, especially those working in urban and rural schools.
• $350,000 to support the Labor Education Institute.
• $200,000 for the Center for Excellence in Teacher Preparation in Pennsylvania, a five-year-old program that was initially supported by a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to improve science and mathematics teacher preparation.
• $206,000 to help support the operation of the McKeever Environmental Learning Center, which is operated by Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania on behalf of the Commonwealth.
• $350,000 for the operation of the Pennsylvania Center for Environmental Education, which also is located at Slippery Rock.

The state budget also includes a $1.7 million appropriation to help offset rising costs incurred by the Pennsylvania Employee Benefits Trust Fund (PEBTF). The PEBTF provides health care coverage to most state employees, including about 4,500 PASSHE employees.

“Despite the challenges they faced with a very tight state budget, the General Assembly and Governor Rendell expanded their investment in public higher education,” Chancellor Hample said. “With the Commonwealth’s support and with today’s Board action, the 14 PASSHE universities will have over $35 million in new funding to provide students with high quality educational experiences.”

In addition to setting the 2005-06 resident undergraduate tuition rate, the Board established new tuition rates and technology tuition fee rates for resident graduate students and nonresident students:

• The resident graduate tuition rate in 2005-06 will be $5,888, an increase of $116. Nonresident graduate tuition will increase by $186, to $9,422.
• Full-time, nonresident undergraduate student tuition will range from $7,360 to $12,266, depending on a variety of factors, including the university and program in which a student enrolls.
• The technology tuition fee will be increased by $25, to $125, for full-time, resident students, both undergraduate and graduate, and by $38, to $188, for full-time, non-resident students. The increase is the first since the fee was established four years ago.
• Part-time resident students – undergraduate students taking fewer than 12 credits and graduate students taking fewer than nine credits – and those who attend summer classes will pay a $31-per-term technology tuition fee, an increase of $6. Part-time, nonresident students will pay $47 per term, an increase of $9.

All funds raised by the technology tuition fee are used to directly benefit student learning. Universities have used the funds to install new computer labs and to design multi-media classrooms, among other projects.

With nearly 106,000 students, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth. The 14 PASSHE universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. More than 400,000 PASSHE 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. PASSHE also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg.