Penn State again raises room and board rates. Here’s what we know
UPDATE: Penn State’s full board of trustees approved the proposal Friday.
Penn State is once again poised to raise room and board rates — with a steeper increase for University Park students compared to students at commonwealth campuses.
The full board of trustees will vote on the proposal Friday. Based on a standard double room and the mid-level meal plan, the proposed total cost for room and board for the 2023-2024 academic year would now be $6,515 per semester at University Park, an increase of 3.56%, or $224. (The proposed meal plan would cost $2,708 — an extra $104 per semester — while the room would cost $3,807, or an extra $120 per semester.)
Although such increases will not go into effect unless the full board approves it, it’s expected to pass after the trustees’ Committee on Finance, Business, and Capital Planning voted overwhelmingly Thursday to recommend the increase.
Only one trustee on the committee, Anthony Lubrano, voted against the recommendation. Still, despite scattered opposition from time to time, room and board have increased at least 2.5% in each of the previous nine years.
By comparison, 2014-2015 room and board rates — based on standard double rooms and mid-level meal plans — came in at at a combined $4,885, meaning students next semester are poised to pay $1,630 more than students a decade ago. That steady rise has outpaced inflation.
Penn State’s housing costs still remain around the Big Ten average, based on last year’s data.
According to public budget planning documents, Housing and Food Services requested the increases due, in part, to salary increases, increased food costs, increased operating expenses, maintenance and debt service.
Comparing campuses, rooms
Although the standard double room at University Park would see a 3.25% increase and the mid-level meal plan a 4% increase under the proposal, that doesn’t hold true for the commonwealth campuses.
Meal plans at commonwealth campuses would increase 2%, while housing there would increase between 1% and 2.25%. The campuses with 1% proposed housing increases include Behrend, Greater Allegheny, Hazleton, Mont Alto and Schuylkill; while the campuses with the 2.25% increases include Abington, Altoona, Beaver, Berks, Brandywine and Harrisburg.
At University Park, the rate of increases also varies based on the room. Students who stay in a single renovated room would pay an additional $461 each semester, the largest proposed increase (8.83%) to a total of $5,683. Those who stay in a single traditional room would actually see a 2% decrease, saving $101 each semester by paying $4,945, in the only decrease among more than a dozen room types.
Graduate apartment rates near the White Course (University Park) would remain steady and not see an increase.
What about tuition?
Penn State typically announces room and board increases in February based on requests from Housing and Food Services. But tuition increases are usually announced in July, around the time state legislators vote on the appropriations for state-related schools like Penn State.
The university is requesting a historic increase in its appropriation for the next academic year, asking for an additional $115.2 million — a 47.6% boost — for a total of $357.3 million.
The trustees will likely discuss tuition at the scheduled July 19-21 meetings on the campus of Penn State Behrend.
This story was originally published February 16, 2023 at 1:47 PM.
