Students gathered last night to hear how the results of Penn State President Graham Spanier's plea for greater state appropriations would affect the cost of tuition.

Spanier testified yesterday in Harrisburg asking legislators to grant Penn State more state appropriations.

Donald Heller, associate professor and senior research associate with the Center for the Study of Higher Education, followed the legislation and asked the group of about 40 students present if they wanted to hear "the good news or the bad news first."

Students requested the bad news first.

"Tuition will not go down next year," he said.

"I think you're probably going to see a tuition increase of 5 to 10 percent."

Heller said that with a 5 percent increase, each student at Penn State will pay at least $500 more annually in tuition.

He said the good news is this increase is less than last year's increase of 14 percent.

Although Penn State asked for a 9 percent increase in appropriations, Heller said that the university would probably only receive an extra 3 percent.

"The legislature has not shown any willingness to put more money in higher education," he said.

To combat the state's reluctance to grant Penn State students lower tuition, the university is committed to include a $1.2 million dollar increase for financial aid in next year's budget, Heller said.

Students need to get involved and be heard by their legislators in order to reduce the cost of tuition, director of the Penn State Alumni Association's Grassroots Network Bernard Ryan said.

"Our goal is to make higher education an issue elected officials must address in the future," Ryan said. "You have to register to vote and be aware of the issues."

Student leaders said more activism is needed to get the state's attention.

Derek Dureka, director of the Governmental Affairs Committee, is organizing a rally to take place in Harrisburg on March 22.

His plans include raising funds to transport students from all Penn State campuses.

"Our voice is being squashed right now in Harrisburg," Dureka said.

Dureka is working with the Undergraduate Student Government and the Political Science Association to get students involved in the decisions that affect them.

"No one cares in Harrisburg," he said. "We want to make education a platform issue."

Speaker Midori Valdivia, vice president of the Political Science Association, said Penn State is too big to be ignored by legislators.

"Why are we so marginalized?" she asked students.

Valdivia also promoted activism as a solution.

"The reason that legislators listen to other people is because they go knocking on their doors," she said. "We need to make them care about us."