Harrisburg – For the sixth year in a row, a record number of students are taking classes at the 14 Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) Universities. Nearly 90 percent of the 110,428 students enrolled this fall are Pennsylvania residents.

Enrollment is up for the 11th consecutive year across PASSHE, with nine of the Universities breaking their own all-time enrollment records. An additional 1,340 students are attending PASSHE Universities this semester over Fall 2006.

With another year of record enrollment, PASSHE remains the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth.

Minority enrollment also is at an all-time high. A record 12,585 minority students – 11.4 percent of the total student enrollment – are taking classes at PASSHE Universities this semester.

PASSHE Universities are the lowest-cost option among all four-year colleges and universities in Pennsylvania. The Board of Governors in July approved a 2.75 percent tuition increase for the 2007-08 school year. It was the third consecutive year that tuition was raised at or below the rate of inflation. It also was about half the average increase among public universities nationwide, a trend that has been in place for each of the last five years.

While striving to keep tuition affordable, PASSHE Universities also are continually enhancing their academic programs, and have developed a number of new programs in recent years to address the changing workforce needs of employers across the Commonwealth.

The 14 PASSHE Universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. More than 405,000 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.

University Enrollment

Bloomsburg 8,745*

California 8,206*

Cheyney 1,436

Clarion 6,795*

East Stroudsburg 7,053*

Edinboro 7,686

Indiana 14,018

Kutztown 10,295*

Lock Haven 5,241

Mansfield 3,338

Millersville 8,306*

Shippensburg 7,765*

Slippery Rock 8,325*

West Chester 13,219*

PASSHE Total 110,428*

* Record