Saturday, January 25, 2025, 9:55AM |  16°
MENU
Advertisement

Budget problems driving state universities away from flat in-state tuition

Budget problems driving state universities away from flat in-state tuition

It used to be easy for Pennsylvanians to know what tuition cost them at any of the 14 state-owned universities. After all, those schools charged one base in-state undergraduate rate, set once a year in Harrisburg.

But with those schools that belong to the State System of Higher Education now in an open scramble to solve their budget and enrollment woes, a growing number have embarked on pricing experiments that have eroded that uniformity of price.

On Monday, Indiana University of Pennsylvania said it will implement one of the largest experiments yet by dropping its flat, full-time tuition rate for in-state students and replacing it with per-credit pricing this fall. The system’s second-largest university, with nearly 9,500 in-state undergraduates, joins Millersville University, which did so two years ago.

Advertisement

IUP president Michael Driscoll said the extra tuition income from per-credit pricing will help plug a $15 million budget shortfall on his campus and is fairer because those students will pay only for the credits they take.

Campus officials do not dispute that the sticker price IUP charges before financial aid awards are made stands to rise by double digits​​​, or beyond $1,100​ a year, for many Pennsylvanians. But they say price discounting during the phase-in and aid for students who qualify will lessen the impact.

No matter how it evolves, a line seems to have been crossed by a university system whose price philosophy is now so market-driven that taking 15 undergraduate credits a semester costs $8,460 yearly under Millersville’s new price system but $7,060 on other State System campuses still charging the flat rate for students taking 12 to 17.9 credits.

Does this mean an education delivered at one State System school such as Millersville or IUP is now worth more than the others? Will every school eventually decide it should make the switch?

Advertisement

Ron Cowell, president of the Pennsylvania Education Policy and Leadership Center, said he does not know enough to say if the experiments are wise or if critics are justified in fearing the experiments will make Pennsylvania’s most affordable four-year degree option less so.

But the former lawmaker said he can think of some policy questions legislators should consider about these price experiments.

“I think it’s fair for everyone to ask ‘Is this about the interests of the students or the interest of the university, and where do they come into conflict?’ ” he said. ”Secondly, this search for revenue is certainly understandable and very much brought about by the state, by the Legislature not providing [universities] adequate or predictable funding.”

 He said one could ask if a more complicated fee structure and less uniform tuition potentially weakens the very idea of a statewide system. “It begins to look more like the private sector — the sticker price is very, substantially higher than what the average student pays,” he said.

Even when State System tuition was more uniform, individual campuses set their own fees for room and board, activities and other costs. But faced with deep state budget cuts and enrollment declines, the system’s board of governors added new freedoms a couple of years back, approving the first of  27 price flexibility experiments in which individual campuses modify up or down classroom tuition or fees by program, by location or some other market condition.

Kenn Marshall, a State System spokesman, said per-credit full-time pricing is not unprecedented nationally, and he said the system is closely watching the campus experiments. “They will be examined to determine the impact that they have, both on students and on revenue projections,” he said.

But some board members are uneasy, including appointees of Gov. Tom Wolf. Reacting to IUP’s  move, Wolf spokesman J.J. Abbott on Monday repeated a call to hold off on new experiments pending closer analysis of those already in progress.

Ken Mash, the system’s faculty union president, said it doesn’t make sense that officials who long prided themselves on holding tuition down “now in one fell swoop allow tuition to be raised 16 percent. It could be as high as 24 percent.”

Universities including Shippensburg and Clarion also have board approval to adopt per-credit pricing but so far have not. Another school, Bloomsburg University, has decided instead to implement a $300-a-semester Student Success fee for support including advising.

The flat full-time rate “works better for our students,” said Bloomsburg spokeswoman Bonnie Martin. “We have students who take two majors, a major and a minor, and we didn’t want to put anything in place that would deter them from doing that.”

But IUP officials say per-credit pricing can quicken the time to a degree by prodding students to choose courses wisely and stops a practice of making part-time students subsidize full-time peers. Per-credit pricing “increases fairness,” Mr. Driscoll said.

 Bill Schackner: bschackner@post-gazette.com, 412-263-197​7​ and on Twitter: @BschacknerPG.

First Published: March 29, 2016, 1:33 p.m.

RELATED
SHOW COMMENTS (0)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
Around 450,000 Pennsylvanians enrolled in Affordable Care Act health insurance plans this year, but credits expire at the end of 2025, which will mean dramatic premium hikes in 2026 unless Congress votes for an extension.
1
business
Crunch time: 450K Pennsylvanians with Obamacare could see dramatic spikes in health care costs
Texas A&M's Shemar Stewart (4) runs off the field during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Auburn, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, in Auburn, Ala.
2
sports
Ray Fittipaldo's first 7-round Steelers mock draft: Deep DL class too enticing?
Former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on the field before a game against the Colts on Sept. 29 in Indianapolis.
3
sports
'I don’t know that they’re that close, to be honest': Ben Roethlisberger is frustrated with the Steelers, too
Aliquippa boys basketball coach Nick Lackovich had to serve a one-game suspension Friday for an incident that occurred Saturday in a game against Imani Christian.(JJ LaBella/For the Post-Gazette)
4
sports
Coach Nick Lackovich and some of his Aliquippa boys basketball players handed ban by PIAA
Entrance to the U.S. Steel Mon Valley Works, Edgar Thompson Plant in Braddock.
5
business
Steelworkers make fresh plea to Trump to save U.S. Steel-Nippon deal
Advertisement
LATEST news
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story