Penn State to increase 2026-27 tuition rates at University Park, commonwealth campuses
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Penn State plans 2026-27 tuition hikes to address budget shortfalls and costs.
- In-state University Park undergraduates face 2% rise; others vary by campus status.
- Fee, housing and food costs will increase modestly across most Penn State campuses.
Editor’s note: This story was updated on July 18 after the full Penn State Board of Trustees voted on the tuition rates and budget.
The Penn State trustees voted Friday to raise tuition, fees and housing, along with food rates, as part of its proposed budget package for the 2026-27 academic year.
The Finance and Investment Committee of the board reviewed and recommended approval of the proposed budget Thursday, with one trustee, Anthony Lubrano, opposing it. The full board approved the measure on Friday; trustees Lubrano, Matt McGloin and Jay Paterno voted against it.
It includes a tuition increase of 2% for in-state undergraduate students at University Park, a 4% increase for out-of-state undergraduate students at University Park, and a 1% increase for out-of-state undergraduate students at commonwealth campuses during the 2027 fiscal year.
In-state undergraduate students at commonwealth campuses will not see a tuition increase. Sara Thorndike, Penn State’s senior vice president for finance and business/treasurer, said Thursday about 18,000 students, or 42% of the university’s in-state undergraduate students, will not see any tuition increase.
“This is really important for us as we think about affordability,” she said.
In-and out-of-state graduate students will see the same increases at University Park. In-state graduate students at commonwealth campuses will have a 1% increase and out-of-state graduate students will see a 2% increase.
College of medicine students will see an increase (2% for in-state medical students and 4% for out-of-state medical students), as will Dickinson Law (2%) and World Campus (1%).
Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi on Thursday said the decision to increase tuition was not arrived at easily, and that she and her team recognize the critical need for affordable education. She highlighted some of the aggressive actions they’ve taken since she became president to look at cost structure and reduce inefficiencies, including hiring freezes, voluntary separation programs and campus closures.
But without increasing tuition, she feared they would not have a balanced budget. They’re going to be facing significant cost increases, whether it is benefits, union wages or inflationary pressures, she said.
“It is also an unprecedented time in higher education in many ways because of the uncertainty of our funding challenges at the federal level and the state level,” Bendapudi told the board. “So at this point, I can confess that I’m not comfortable that we would be able to achieve a balanced budget without a very, very modest increase in in-state tuition for University Park students.”
The increase is on par, or in some cases, significantly lower than in-state peers and Big Ten peers, she said.
It is the sixth consecutive year the university has raised tuition. The 2025-26 tuition rate was approved by the board last year.
The tuition increases will help cover a 3% annual salary increase, faculty promotions, faculty professional development, a 4% graduate assistantships increase, a negotiated salary increase for unions and increased health care costs, according to the presentation the board received.
Rob Fenza, finance committee member, said he would support the tuition increase even though he has stayed up at night thinking, “how can we do this?” As a longtime finance committee member, he said he has seen the budget slashed overtime and employees doing more with less. They deserve to be rewarded, which will be possible with the tuition increase, he said.
“I really sincerely believe we owe it to them, to give them a proper raise and the support that they need to support their families in this environment. And most of this tuition increase just gives us the ability to do that,” he said on Thursday.
Student fee rates will also increase by $5 for University Park students, $73 at Shenango and $7 at all other commonwealth campuses. The rates and uses are proposed by students.
“They’re doing some adjustments so that the commonwealth campuses essentially have the same student fee. And that’s a decision that they requested that be made. That’s why it looks like Shenango has a really large increase, because previously they had a different student fee rate,” Thorndike said.
In late May, the board approved closing seven of its commonwealth campuses — DuBois, Fayette, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Shenango, Wilkes-Barre and York — following the spring 2027 semester, citing challenges like long-term demographic shifts, declining enrollment, flat public funding, and increasing operational costs
Housing and food rates
The 2027 fiscal year proposed housing and food rates include an increase overall of 2.85%, or $198, at University Park, bringing the total to $7,138.
Campuses will also see a slight increase. At Abington, Altoona, Beaver, Behrend, Berks, Brandywine and Harrisburg, the overall increase is 1.64%, or $110, bringing the total to $6,815. At Greater Allegheny, Hazleton, Mont Alto and Schuylkill, the overall rate will increase 0.62%, or $41, to $6,603.
Among the other Big Ten schools, Penn State’s housing and food rates are below the average cost of $15,505, according to approved and pending rates provided by the university.
Overall budget
Penn State’s 2026-27 all funds revenue is $10.2 billion, Thorndike said. That includes $4.63 billion in Penn State Health, $2.39 billion in tuition and fees, and $1.41 billion in grants and contracts.
This story was originally published July 17, 2025 at 4:19 PM.
