Tuition at Penn State set to increase 2.7 percent

Tuition for incoming freshmen and sophomores at Pennsylvania State University's main campus would rise 2.7 percent, or $450, for 2015-16 under a proposal passed by the board of trustees' finance committee Thursday.

In-state students would pay $17,022, up from $16,572 last year, the university said. Out-of-state students also would pay more.

In March, the trustees approved a 3.89 percent increase in room-and-board costs. If the tuition proposal is adopted this week, the total per-student cost, including fees, would exceed $28,100 for next year.

Tuition for all upperclassmen, which varies according to majors, is also expected to increase from 2.7 percent to 3.7 percent.

The full board of trustees, which is meeting this week at the university's Beaver campus in Western Pennsylvania, will vote on the tuition proposal Friday.

Also on Thursday, another trustees committee endorsed more money for some of the university's top managers.

University president Eric Barron is expected to get a 3 percent lump-sum merit raise if a proposal endorsed by the trustees' compensation committee Thursday is approved, as expected. That would amount to about $24,000. His base pay of $800,000 will remain the same. Five other top executives have been recommended for raises that average 2.9 percent.

Those executives and their new salaries are: Steve Dunham, chief general counsel, $551,364; Nicholas Jones, executive vice president and provost, $511,364; Rodney Kirsch, senior vice president for development and alumni relations, $481,320; David Gray, senior vice president for finance and business, $470,568; and athletic director Sandy Barbour, $720,996.

"Each of these individuals has served during a time of considerable growth and progress, and the university has accomplished a great deal under their leadership," Barron said in a statement. "All have responsibilities that spread across Penn State's 24 campuses, involving our 17,000 faculty and staff, and nearly 100,000 students."

The tuition increase would be steeper for out-of-state underclassmen: 2.99 percent, or $882. They would pay $30,404 for tuition; total costs would top $41,400.

Tuition will also change at some of Penn State's branch campuses.

At eight of 19 undergraduate campuses - Shenango, Beaver, DuBois, Fayette, Greater Allegheny, Mont Alto, New Kensington, and Wilkes-Barre - in-state students will pay the same tuition as last year.

At six campuses - Brandywine, Hazleton, Lehigh Valley, Schuylkill, Worthington Scranton, and York - the increase would be less than 1 percent for in-state students.

In-state students at Abington, Altoona, Berks, Erie, and Harrisburg would pay 1.2 percent more.

The board on Friday will also vote on Penn State's proposed $4.9 billion 2015-16 operating budget, which assumes a 3 percent increase in state funding, or about $6.4 million.

Penn State was more conservative in its budgeting than Temple University, which this week adopted a budget that assumes a 5.4 percent increase in state funding.

State leaders have not agreed on a budget. Republican lawmakers have proposed a 3 percent increase for state-related colleges, while Gov. Wolf is seeking more.