Penn State considering tuition hikes
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) – Penn State officials plan to announce tuition rate hikes for the 2002-03 school year this week, after months of warning that the increase could reach 13 or 14 percent. University officials, who blame the increase on diminishing state appropriations, will recommend rates to the board of trustees Thursday.
“Penn State is, overall, in good financial health, so I’m not feeling we are in a crisis situation,” said Penn State President Graham Spanier. “But we have great challenges ahead of us nevertheless, (and) there’s no magic formula for dealing with higher-education economics.”
The recently approved state budget reduced Penn State’s overall subsidy by 3.6 percent and its Educational-and-General appropriation by 4.2 percent. The latter pays for everything from faculty salaries to libraries.
A 13 to 14 percent hike would increase tuition between $917 and $988 a year.
States across the country are cutting appropriations for higher education, causing double-digit tuition increases.
Some schools, including some in the Big Ten, are handling cuts by charging incoming students more than returning students.
Trustees at Penn State historically set tuition at their July meeting. Other universities and higher-education systems have delayed their decisions this year.
Legislators in Wisconsin capped the tuition increase for public universities at 8 percent for in-state students.
All new students at Purdue University this year will pay a $1,000 “new student fee” on top of a 10 percent tuition increase. New undergraduate students at Indiana University in fall 2003 will be hit with an extra $1,000 charge.
Penn State administrators have also recommended a tuition differential for incoming freshmen in 2003.
However, Spanier vowed to help students shoulder the hikes. Nearly three-quarters of Penn State students receive some financial aid.
“I’m absolutely committed to making sure that no student is prevented from attending Penn State because of an inability to afford us,” Spanier said. “We will help our neediest students pay their tuition bills through a combination of work-study, part-time employment, grants, loans, scholarships. We plan to have a massive infusion of new funds to support financial aid.”