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California University of Pennsylvania

Lawmaker Blasts State System Tuition Hike

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Angry with the State System of Higher Education’s decision to raise tuition rates by 3% this fall, State Rep. Brad Roae (R-Crawford) issued a blunt statement this week, which said it “should be ashamed of itself” for trying to take advantage of students.

Roae tells Radio PA the US Department of Labor recently reported that the Consumer Price Index inflation rate last year was 1.7%.  “But the PASSHE board is calling the 3% tuition increase a below inflation rate increase, which I think is pretty bogus,” Roae explains.  He believes the tuition hike is unnecessary and will only serve to make a college education less affordable.

PASSHE spokesman Kenn Marshall stands by their assertion that tuition has been held under the rate of inflation for the fifth time in the past eight years.  He says the Consumer Price Index and inflation rate are not interchangeable.  “The CPI is actually a number that can be used to calculate the inflation rate… and based on that 1.7% CPI, the annual inflation rate is actually 3.1%.”

Higher Education Rally

Students rallied against proposed higher education budget cuts this spring. In the end, the new state budget included level funding for state-owned and state-related universities.

The mathematical debate notwithstanding, Rep. Roae believes State System tuition should be frozen.  “My ten piece bill package would do what the PASSHE board should be doing, and that’s looking at ways to keep costs down so that tuition isn’t so high.”  In addition to a tuition freeze, Roae’s bills would cap university presidents’ salaries, make full-time professors teach more hours, end paid sabbatical leave and more.

But Marshall says they’ve been actively engaged in costs controls for more than a decade.  “We’ve reduced our costs by almost $230-million dollars over the past ten years,” he says.  That includes 900-positions being left vacant in the past two years alone.

In-state, undergraduate tuition at all 14-state-owned universities will be $6,428 this fall.

Tuition Increase for State System Schools Kept Around Inflation Rate

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After the state budget kept funding level for the 14 state owned universities, the board of governors is keeping the tuition increase around the rate of inflation for the upcoming academic year.

Tuition will rise by 3%, marking the 5th time in the last 8 years the State System of Higher Education has held the increase at or below the rate of inflation. It means students will pay $188 more a year to attend classes at the schools.

Spokesman Kenn Marshall says the board and universities have worked hard to keep costs under control. He says they’ve made about 230 million dollars in cost savings over the last several years through a number of cost savings initiatives.  Last year, tuition rose by 7.5% on the heels of an 18% reduction in state funding.

There will also be an increase in the technology fee;   10 dollars for resident students and 16 for out of state students.   Other fees, such as room and board and meal plans,  are set on a campus by campus basis.

Out of state students will also pay 3% more for tuition, but those rates vary from campus to campus and program to program.

Marshall says the Governor’s original budget proposal called for another 20% reduction in state funding.  He says the system worked with the Governor and legislature over the last few months to get funding restored back to last year’s levels. He says without that, they would not have been able to hold tuition as low as they did.

Tuition Will Increase at Pennsylvania’s 14 State Owned Universities

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Tuition will be going up for students attending Pennsylvania’s 14 state owned universities.  The Board of Governors of the State System of Higher Education has approved the increase to help make up part of the gap left by the state budget.

In-state students will pay an additional 7.5%  for tuition, or $218 per semester and 50% more for their technology fee, an increase of $58 per semester for the 2011-2012 academic year.  The tuition for out-of-state students was still being calculated.  Chancellor John Cavanaugh told the board the schools will still face a gap of about $33 million after the increases.

Dr. Cavanaugh says a 1% increase in tuition translates into $8.5 million.  The total gap was $112 million, including a reduction of more than $90 million in state funding under the budget approved by the General Assembly this week. The Governor’s original budget plan had called for an even steeper cut in state funding.  Dr. Cavanaugh says the system had been saying all along they would not totally make up the difference through tuition increases.

Prior to the vote, Steve Hicks, President of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties (APSCUF), told the board they’ve done a great job in the last six years keeping tuition down, maybe too good a job. He says Pennsylvania had  the lowest tuition increases in the country for a public system for the last six years, going from above the national average, to $600 below it.  He asked the board to vote for an increase that fills most of the gap left by the legislature.

APSCUF Vice President Ken Mash says the Office of the Chancellor has worked very hard to look for areas to reduce costs.  He says the presidents and everyone at the universities have risen to the challenge, seeking to preserve high quality education while repeatedly reducing expenditures.  He says efficiency has reached its pinnacle, the budget ax has simply hit bone.

Board of Governors student representative Leonard Altieri III, who attends West Chester University, said students knew a tuition increase was coming.  He said he’s extremely comfortable with this increase, because students see what happens when the schools don’t have the funds, with programs that get cut from the campuses.

The increase is the highest since the 2002-2003 school year, when tuition was raised by 9%.

The state system schools are Bloomsburg, California, Cheney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities.