Penn State freezes tuition for in-state students for third time in five years

Pennsylvania State University’s board of trustees on Thursday voted to freeze tuition for in-state students for the second consecutive year and the third time in five years, but did approve a slight hike for out-of-state students.

At the main campus, the tuition rate for undergraduates who are full-time, lower-division, and in-state will remain $8,708 per semester or $17,416 annually.

Temple University this month voted to freeze its tuition, as did the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, which includes 14 universities: Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock, and West Chester.

The Penn State freeze came as part of the new $6.8 billion budget approved by trustees.

The tuition freeze will be the fifth consecutive on eight of Penn State’s 19 undergraduate campuses: Beaver, DuBois, Fayette, Greater Allegheny, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Shenango, and Wilkes-Barre.

“Promoting affordability in the face of rising costs has not been easy, but we are working hard as a university to maintain and grow the quality of our academic programs, invest in the future, and continue to serve as an innovator in higher education,” Penn State president Eric Barron said in a statement.

Tuition for out-of-state students will increase 1.95 percent, which is the lowest increase in more than two decades, the university said. Out-of-state freshmen and sophomores on the main campus paid $32,644 last year.