Penn State again raises tuition, with University Park seeing bigger hikes than other campuses

Josh Moyer
·5 min read
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Penn State is raising tuition on University Park students for the next two academic years — at a lower rate in 2023-2024 than many peers — while in-state undergraduates at commonwealth campuses will see no increase at all, based on a two-year budget plan formally approved Friday by the board of trustees.

University trustees meeting at the Behrend campus voted 25-5, with one abstention, to increase tuition each of the next two academic years by 2% for in-state students at University Park and 4% for out-of-state-students there. Under the plan, in-state undergrads at commonwealth campuses will experience no increase over the next two years, while other students there will see between a 1% and 2% increase each year.

At University Park, that means a typical in-state undergrad will see their yearly tuition rise by $386 to $19,672 for the 2023-2024 academic year. And, in 2024-2025, tuition will rise an additional $394 to $20,066. (Out-of-state students at University Park will see their tuition increase more than $1,500 each of the next two academic years.)

Five of the alumni-elected trustees — Ted Brown, Alvin de Levie, Barry Fenchak, Anthony Lubrano and Jay Paterno — opposed the plan. Brown had mixed feelings on the budget plan, noting higher enrollment at the commonwealth campuses could’ve ensured more in-state students wouldn’t need to see tuition increases.

“That’s wonderful news,” Brown said about no increase for commonwealth campus undergrads. “But let me add to that: We would not need to have a tuition increase for in-state (students) if we filled 1,000 of the 10,000 empty seats at commonwealth campuses.”

The tuition increases come in the midst of what’s been described as a “tough” budget situation at Penn State, which is due in part to nationwide enrollment issues. In an effort to balance the budget by summer 2025, university administrators proposed operating budgets for each of the next two fiscal years, hence the unusual step of simultaneously releasing the tuition rates for the next two academic years.

Trustees during a Thursday committee meeting complimented the university on its budget progress. Penn State officials explained then that the projected $140 million deficit for this past fiscal year had already been reduced to $63 million. (To get there, Penn State implemented a hiring freeze and announced some layoffs, among other moves.)

“I want to thank the entire Penn State community for its efforts as we’ve worked to respond to budget challenges,” Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi said in a news release. “Our deficit today is lower than it was at this time last year, and we are forecasting progressively smaller deficits for each of the next two fiscal years.

“This work is not finished, but I am encouraged by what we have achieved thus far, and I am pleased to report that we remain on track for a balanced budget by fiscal year 2025-26.”

Penn State’s tuition increase at University Park for the upcoming academic year appears to be lower than many peer institutions. Based on public information provided by the trustees, Penn State’s 2% increase for in-state University Park undergrads is as low or lower than at least nine Big Ten schools — Wisconsin (4%), Iowa (3.5%), Minnesota (3.5%), Nebraska (3.5%), Ohio State (3%), Michigan State (3%), Indiana (3%), Michigan (2.9%) and Maryland (2%). Temple also announced earlier this month it planned to increase tuition more than 4%, while Pitt has not yet released its rates.

Still, Penn State has a lot of ground to make up. It has long been a staple on college rankings lists that publicize the nation’s most expensive non-private schools, coming in at No. 9 on U.S. News & World Report’s “10 colleges with the highest in-state tuition” in December 2021. It also remains the most expensive non-private Big Ten school when it comes to annual in-state tuition, finishing just ahead of Michigan’s $17,786. (University officials have often responded by pointing out the Keystone State annually ranks among the worst states in the country for per-capita support of higher education.)

Other tuition and budget information worth noting:

  • Higher tuition rates for some majors: Business and engineering majors (juniors and seniors) will move to a higher tuition rate — on the same tier as nursing — over the next two years. For in-state students at University Park, that means annual increases of more than $1,400 in each of the next two years and, for out-of-state students, that means more than $3,000 increases in each of the next two years.

  • More credits? More money: Previously, students who took 12 or more credit hours per semester would pay the same tuition. Now, students taking more than 19 credits will see an additional per-credit charge.

  • Student fees rising: Student fees, which are proposed by the student fee boards, will increase each of the next two years at University Park. They were $274.74 per semester in 2022-2023; they will increase to $281 this upcoming academic year and to $289 for the year after that.

  • Room and board rates increasing: University Park room and board rates were already approved in February to increase 3.56% for the upcoming academic year. Under the latest plan, the typical rate will rise again in 2024-2025 by 3.21% — or $209 — to $6,724 a semester.

  • Biggest tuition increase is ...: The College of Medicine will raise tuition a whopping 14% for out-of-state students in 2024-2025. (The 2023-2024 increase is 4%.) In-state students will see increases of 4% in each of the next two years.

  • History of tuition increases: The 2024-2025 increase will mark the fourth straight year with a tuition increase. Penn State raised tuition for in-state University Park undergrads by 2.5% in 2021 and 5% in 2022. Before that, Penn State did not raise tuition for three straight academic years.

  • Overall fiscal year budgets: The universitywide operating expense budgets are $9.5 billion in 2023-2024 and $9.6 billion in 2024-2025.