Pennsylvania’s state universities delay tuition decision to July, hoping more state funding comes through

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s board of governors agreed to delay setting next year’s tuition rate until July when the system will know how much state funding it will get.

Chancellor Daniel Greenstein and board members on Thursday indicated their desire to freeze tuition for an unprecedented fifth consecutive year, but noted that would take a substantial increase in state funding, more than Gov. Shapiro has proposed in his budget.

“There’s a lot of work that’s going on, working very closely with the General Assembly,” Cynthia Shapira, board chair, said at the meeting. “Because those conversations are continuing and that work is continuing, ...it would be my recommendation that we actually defer a decision. At that point, I think we’ll have the information we need to make the best decision for our students.”

For the last several years, the board has set tuition at its April meeting.

If a freeze were approved in July, in-state students, who make up the vast majority of the system’s 84,566 students, would pay $7,716 in tuition and a $478 technology fee. That’s what they paid in 2018-19 and every year since then, making the price of attendance 13% lower now than five years ago — when adjusted for inflation, the system said.

» READ MORE: Pennsylvania state universities to freeze tuition for fourth consecutive year

Greenstein initially had planned to propose a 3% tuition hike, which would have amounted to about an additional $250 annually for students. He said earlier this week his plan was driven by Shapiro’s proposed budget, which included a 2% increase in funding for the system — much less than the system had asked for and nowhere near the cost of inflation.

Greenstein had asked for a 3.8%, or $21 million, increase in its basic funding, which would raise the state’s contribution to $573.5 million, plus an additional $112 million, most of it for direct financial aid to students enrolled in careers with employee shortages. Those include teaching, nursing, physician assistants, social services, business and STEM fields, including computer science and engineering. If that $112 million was added, it would really amount to a 24% increase in funding.

But Greenstein’s approach changed Wednesday, the same day Pennsylvania Senate leaders called on PASSHE to maintain its current tuition rate.

» READ MORE: The chancellor of Pa.’s state universities makes a case for more funding

“Increasing tuition at this time would make higher education less accessible to students and directly contradict PASSHE’s mission of providing a quality education at an affordable price,” Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, and Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Scott Martin, all Republicans, said in a statement. “We firmly believe PASSHE universities cannot raise tuition and then expect to also receive increased state support. ... we are committed to working together to adequately address the financial concerns of our higher education institutions.”

System officials made clear that a freeze can’t stand unless state funding comes in considerably higher than what Shapiro has proposed.

At the meeting, Greenstein said it would take an 11.5% increase in state funding just to maintain the status quo, with no tuition increase. Conversely, it would require a 7.5% hike in tuition if there were no increase in state funding, Greenstein said.

“It would be horrific,” said Michael Driscoll, president of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, anticipating a severe loss of students if tuition were raised that much.

Earlier this week, Greenstein had said he figures if Shapiro’s proposed budget doesn’t change, the system would need a 4.5% tuition increase just to stay even, and that doesn’t consider wage increases for faculty who are currently negotiating a new contract with the system.

“You do everything you possibly can to protect students,” Greenstein said. “But you can’t do recession management for 20 years.”

By holding tuition flat over the last five years, the system’s universities have given up $80 million in revenue, the system maintained, while offering $110 million in financial aid this year.

The state system got more than a 15%, or $75 million, boost in state funding last year, which allowed it to freeze tuition. It was the largest, one-time increase awarded since the system was founded in 1983 and came after the system merged six of its universities into two.

The state system consists of West Chester, Cheyney, East Stroudsburg, Kutztown, Slippery Rock, Shippensburg, Millersville, Indiana, Pennsylvania Western University and Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania.

Also at the meeting, the board approved a new five-year contract for Greenstein, who became chancellor in 2018. Five years is the maximum length allowed under PASSHE regulations.

Under his leadership, the system improved relations with the state legislature, which brought in more funding; held tuition flat to make education more affordable for low- and middle-income families; and oversaw the complicated merger of Bloomsburg, Mansfield and Lock Haven into the Commonwealth university and Clarion, California and Edinboro into Penn West.

“It’s been quite a momentous five years,” Shapira said.

But the system has not been able to stem the enrollment decline, and financial challenges remain. The system has lost about 29% of its enrollment since 2010.

A student representative to the board thanked Greenstein for being so accessible.

“I know we continue to challenge you when you come to our campuses, but we really appreciate you being vulnerable and hearing our voices as we go through these challenging times and changing times,” said Skylar Walder, a student at Shippensburg University, who is from Green Pond, N.J.