UPPER SAUCON TOWNSHIP, Lehigh County — The tuition increase Penn State students will see in the fall is smaller than that of other universities, but it will still mean a jump of about $700 for in-state freshmen and sophomores at University Park. University trustees voted Friday to approve a 2011-12 budget and tuition increases that range from 2.9 percent at the Commonwealth Campuses to 4.9 percent for in-state undergraduates at University Park.
The $4.1 billion total budget approved by trustees comes as the university is dealing with major reductions in state funding and the possibility of job losses in the coming year as each university department balances its own budget. The tuition increases, which differ based on a student’s residency and campus he or she attends, average 3.8 percent, university officials said.
Penn State and other colleges and universities are dealing with major cuts in state funding in 2011-12. Support for state-related universities was cut 19 percent. That reduction recently led the University of Pittsburgh to increase tuition by 8.5 percent; the State System of Higher Education, with an 18 percent cut in state funding, approved a 7.5 percent tuition increase.
“Coupled with our low room and board rates, I believe we have succeeded in making a Penn State education reasonable in the face of a reduced appropriation,” university President Graham Spanier said Friday.
Education Secretary Ron Tomalis, an ex-officio trustee, praised the university for the efforts it made in a difficult financial year. “With the budget year what it is and appropriations being what they are, it was important that all the universities, all higher ed institutions take a look at what they could do to keep costs under control, keep expenses under control, particularly as it impacts the students,” Tomalis said after the meeting. “ ... The board of trustees, the leadership at Penn State looked very deeply into the budget and tried to make sure the impact on the students was minimal, and they did that with tuition today, keeping it at a pretty modest level.”
Spanier said that the comparatively low tuition increase — one of the smallest in the country — is possible because of steps that included a salary freeze as of July 1, restructuring employee benefits, putting some construction projects on hold and setting aside some money that helped balance the budget.
But he also warned that that can’t continue in future years.
“I don’t see how we could have increases this low under circumstances of a $68 million reduction in our appropriation again. You can see what other colleges and universities had to do,” Spanier said.
“From here on out it’s going to be very tight, and I would hope we would not have to be looking at cuts in the future,” he said. State support for cooperative extension and agricultural research also dropped 19 percent. That adds up to a loss of about 160 positions through early retirement, attrition and layoffs. Spanier said that along with those job cuts, there have already been several dozen layoffs or job cuts and there will likely be a loss of “scores of positions” across the university.
Penn State is making a 2 percent, across-the-board cut in all units. Because 70 percent of the university’s money is in people, even a 2 percent cut means a loss in jobs, he said.
Spanier said there isn’t an exact figure yet on how many job losses there will be because that will play out as each unit decides how to manage the budget cut.
The $4.1 billion budget trustees approved includes a $1.7 billion general budget, separate from funding for the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and the Pennsylvania College of Technology.
The state funded about 17 percent of that budget in 2010-11. In 2011-12, it will fund about 14 percent.
Student government leader T.J. Bard said he was relieved with the tuition increase, in light of what students had been preparing for. “This entire couple months since the initial proposed budget has definitely been a roller coaster of emotions,” said Bard, president of the University Park Undergraduate Association. “I know initially I was very, very frustrated with what the state had announced. I was concerned about potential double-digit tuition increases, percentage-wise, and I know that’s something the students of Penn State would not be able to handle.”
He said now he’s looking to next year, and that he and other student leaders will be looking for ways to communicate their concerns to legislators.
Anne Danahy can be reached at 231-4648.
