The Board did not increase tuition this year, keeping it at $3,468 for Pennsylvania residents. The freeze followed an increase of only $100 in 1997-98.

“We are committed to keeping tuition affordable while also maintaining the high-quality academic programs our students have come to expect,” said Board of Governors Chairman F. Eugene Dixon, Jr.

"The decision to freeze tuition last year was, in part, in response to the concerns of many families over the rising cost of higher education. We will continue to do all that we can to keep our costs down and to make certain our universities are operating as efficiently as possible.”

With the state budget now in place, System officials will begin finalizing a 1999-2000 spending plan. The Board of Governors last October proposed an operating budget for the next fiscal year of $926.5 million, with revenue to be divided nearly equally between state funding and student tuition and fees.

That total would represent an overall spending increase of 4.2 percent over the current operating budget. It was predicated on the System receiving a 5.5 percent increase in state funding and a likely tuition increase.

The System’s base appropriation actually will increase by 3 percent next year, or about $12.7 million. The special projects appropriation of $4.5 million would mean an additional 1 percent in new state funding would be available for 1999-2000. The total increase is about $6 million less than the amount requested by the Board for the universities’ basic operations.

The System will receive additional special funding from several other sources in the budget, including about $8.3 million for deferred maintenance through the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund. All of higher education also will share $10 million included in the state Department of Education’s budget for technology initiatives and another $6 million for equipment purchases. It in not certain how much of that money could end up going to the State System.

“This budget will help us to continue our mission of helping to meet the Commonwealth’s educational needs,” said Chancellor James H. McCormick. “It will allow us to maintain the wide array of programs offered on our campuses and will challenge us to improve our efficiency as we strive to meet the changing needs of both our students and their future employers."

The State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth, offering more than 215 undergraduate and more than 100 graduate degree programs. Nearly 350,000 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.