By Mike Walbert
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER | mew202@psu.edu
Penn State's tuition rates have made their highest leap in 20 years.
On July 12, Penn State's Board of Trustees voted to approve the university's $2.4 billion budget for the new year that includes a 13.5 percent tuition hike.
The increase is the largest the university has seen since a 14.6 percent increase in 1982.
Tuition for in-state undergraduate students at University Park will now cost more than $8,000 a year, up about $1,000 from last year. Out-of-state students will pay more than $17,000 a year, an increase of about $2,000.
The trustees also approved the Tuition Task Force's differential tuition plan for fall 2003 which calls for that year's incoming freshmen to pay an extra $250 per semes-
ter. In 2004, freshmen and sophomores will pay these same fees.
The decision to increase tuition followed closely on the heels of Gov. Mark Schweiker's June 29 approval of a $20.7 billion state budget that cut the university's funding by 3.65 percent.
Penn State spokesman Steve MacCarthy said the university was faced with a difficult balancing act of whether to "reduce the quality" of a Penn State education through slashing of staff and funds, or to "maintain the quality" of the education by increasing the tuition. The latter option was chosen.
"Students are going to get a degree that has great value in the job market, better than any return on stocks or bonds," he said.
Tuition now covers two-thirds of Penn State's budget, said university spokesman Tysen Kendig. In 1971, the trend was reversed -- before then, state appropriations covered two-thirds of the university's budget, he said.
Among Big Ten schools, Penn State ranks last in state appropriations per full-time student. Penn State students receive $4,229 each from the state of Pennsylvania. In comparison, the University of Wisconsin ($11,291 per student) and the University of Minnesota ($10,354) top the list of money received from their respective states.
"It appears there's been a decreasing emphasis on higher education from the [state] legislature," Kendig said.
Penn State President Graham Spanier spoke at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel yesterday before a crowd attending Encampment 2002, a leadership conference, and fielded several questions regarding tuition increases.
He dispelled the idea that Penn State might one day become a private university because of the dwindling state-funded support, saying that Penn State still receives more than $300 million from the state for budget use.
Kendig said the university would continue to provide students with more financial aid and scholarship packages.
"We're working diligently," he said. "The bottom line is that the university is committed to not diminishing the quality of a Penn State education."
