In response to the rising cost of tuition at Penn State, a rally designed to appeal to state legislators is being organized.

The rally will take place at 1 p.m. on March 15 in Harrisburg, said Kathleen Streaker, Council of Commonwealth Student Government (CCSG) governmental affairs director, during yesterday's Undergraduate Student Government Academic Assembly meeting.

"Business attire is required," she said. "A lot of people like to mistake it for a riot or a protest, but it is not."

Two of the other three state-related universities will be taking part, such as Temple University and Lincoln University, Streaker said.

Penn State administrators will join students in the rally, she added.

"This year we should have a good number of people," she said, adding that about 600 students are expected.

After the hour-long rally, students will be involved in lobbying legislators for larger state appropriations, Streaker said.

The rally is open to all students, said College of Engineering Faculty Sen. Josh Hauenstein.

State appropriations from the government go toward tuition costs; however, the appropriations have been decreasing every year, with less money allocated to Penn State.

Penn State has increased in-state student tuition by 6.6 percent this year. As state appropriations decrease, the cost for salaries, information technology and library services, and other facilities is increasing, according to the Penn State tuition Web site, www.tuition.psu.edu.

According to the Web site, the result has been an increase in tuition to ensure the quality of the university is maintained, while Penn State's appropriation remains the lowest among the Big Ten schools.

Transportation will be organized for the rally, by buses or carpooling, Streaker said.

CCSG is working on making the trip a university-excused absence since the rally will be benefiting the university as a whole.