Penn State board approves tuition increase

Pennsylvania State University tuition will increase by 3.9 percent to 5.9 percent this year - depending on students' residency and campus - under a plan approved Friday by the Board of Trustees.

Pennsylvania residents who attend the main campus in State College will see tuition rise 5.9 percent, or $404 a semester, university officials said. Nonresident students will see a 4.5 percent increase.

Instate residents paid about $14,500 in tuition and fees on average last school year. Out-of-state students will pay more than $26,000 in the coming year.

Tuition for students who attend branch campuses will rise 3.9 percent. That equates to $235 a semester more for students at the Altoona, Berks, Erie, and Harrisburg campuses, and $225 more for students at the other commonwealth campuses.

The trustees' decision follows tuition increases that ranged from 3.7 percent to 4.5 percent last year.

"We recognize and share the economic hardships being faced by Pennsylvania, especially by our students and their families," university president Graham Spanier told the trustees Friday. "We also know that our mission and success remain absolutely critical to the future of Pennsylvania. Our vitality is part of the solution to the economic downturn. We simply cannot allow the quality and breadth of our enterprise to be diminished."

Christian Ragland, a senior who is president of the student body at the main campus, called any tuition increase a bad idea in the current economy.

"I am disappointed that there is a tuition increase, but that doesn't mean that the battle is over," said Ragland, 21, of Egg Harbor City, N.J. "We have to find ways for students to be at the table to represent student opinion."

Tuition increases will be the number-one issue for a new association made up of student representatives from Pennsylvania's public and state-related universities and colleges, Ragland said. The group will discuss a range of issues that affect students.

"We want our voices to be heard," Ragland said. "We don't want to get apathetic to tuition increases and expect them to happen every year."

Although 5.9 percent more in tuition might strike parents as a large increase, it's not out of line given waning state support around the country, said Sandy Baum, an independent policy analyst for the College Board.

"Historically, 6 percent - given state budget problems - is certainly not high. It's significant, but there will be many states with higher tuition increases," she said.

The latest New Jersey budget put a 4 percent cap on colleges and universities that receive state aid. Tuition at Rowan University is increasing by the full amount allowable, and in the fall will be $8,396, up from $8,074, for instate students, and $15,754, up from $15,148, for nonresidents. Fees are up to $3,280 from $3,160.

The Rutgers Board of Governors is expected to vote on tuition at a Thursday meeting.

Temple University last month also announced a 5.9 percent tuition increase for the coming academic year, citing waning state support.

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, which oversees 14 state universities, including West Chester and Cheyney, will consider a tuition increase at its July 22 meeting. Spokesman Kenn Marshall said various numbers had been discussed.

"Our numbers have generally been lower than theirs," he said, referring to Penn State and Temple, "but I don't know where we might be this year."