Penn State President Rodney Erickson proposed a 2.9 percent increase in tuition for in-state University Park students for the 2012-13 academic year.
Erickson's proposed operating budget of the university was presented at today's Penn State Board of Trustees meeting.
Two-thirds of Penn State's undergraduate students would see an increase of 1.9 to 2.4 percent, Erickson said. The average increase in tuition is 2.4 percent, which is the lowest increase since 1967.
Out-of-state students would see a 2.4 percent increase for University Park campus and a 1.9 percent tuition increase for Commonwealth Campuses, Erickson said.
Erickson said the proposed budget is balanced and provides for basic operating costs increases.
Penn State's total approved institutional budget for the fiscal year, which began July 1, would approach $4.3 billion.
In summer 2011, Penn State's tuition increased 3.8 percent on average, with a 4.9 percent increase for in-state students at University Park.
Excluding Hershey and Penn College, the university's tuition and fees covers 78.6 percent of the General Funds Budget, Erickson said.
The General Funds Budget is made up of five key areas: Educational and General; Agricultural Research Cooperative Extension/ the College of Medicine and Penn College.
The 2012-13 Commonwealth budget enacted June 30 includes an appropriation to Penn State totaling $279 million, which represents the same level of funding as the original prior year appropriation, Erickson said.
Also noted at the meeting was that this appropriation is the same in absolute dollars as Penn State received in 1995, a time when Penn State was educating 20,000 fewer students, Erickson said.
