Temple University to raise tuition 3.9% for 2022-23

Temple University will raise tuition 3.9% for next year, citing inflationary costs.

The increase, approved by the board of trustees Tuesday afternoon, will apply to both undergraduate and graduate students and those in state and out of state.

It comes after the university froze tuition in 2019 and 2020 and had a 2.5% increase last year.

Annual tuition for in-state students will rise to $17,136, while out-of-state tuition will increase to $30,864. Annual mandatory fees will increase to $924, up $34. Including room, board, fees, and tuition, the annual tab for a typical in-state student will top $31,600.

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“Raising tuition is not a decision that we came to lightly as we recognize the impact it has on students and families,” said Ken Kaiser, Temple’s senior vice president and chief operating officer.

But he said the university’s basic state funding appropriation of $158.2 million has remained flat for four years, while education costs have risen and inflation has skyrocketed.

While the general appropriation for state-related universities, including Temple, did not increase this year, the universities will be receiving a one-time 5% boost in funding through federal stimulus dollars, according to Gov. Tom Wolf’s office. For Temple, that amounts to about $8 million.

But Kaiser said the university can’t use that money to offset a tuition increase or any other recurring cost because it goes away after this year.

“We can’t build it into our budget,” he said. “It can only be used for a one-time investment.”

» READ MORE: After a two-year freeze, Temple raises tuition 2.5%

Temple also is cutting $41 million or 3.6% from its $1.236 billion budget. Since 2020-21, the university has cut its expenses by more than $115 million, according to Kaiser. The cuts come as Temple is projecting another drop in undergraduate students. Enrollment at Temple and many other colleges across the country has been falling since the pandemic.

Temple expects to have about 24,600 undergraduates for the 2022-23 academic year, down about 1,500 from last year, Kaiser said. Part of the decline is due to an increasing four-year graduation rate at Temple, but the rest, he said, can be attributed to a myriad of factors, including the pandemic and a general decrease in the overall population of high school students.

The university will spend $110 million on financial aid, a $5 million increase over last year.

Pennsylvania State University’s board of trustees will meet later this month to set tuition and fees.

Other area universities already have announced hikes. The University of Pennsylvania said it would raise costs 2.9%. Rutgers announced a 2.9% increase in tuition and fees. And Rowan University plans to increase tuition and fees 4%.

But in-state students who attend Pennsylvania’s state universities will not face an increase after the state budget included a more than 15% increase, or $75 million hike, in their appropriation. Those schools include West Chester, Cheyney, East Stroudsburg, Kutztown, Millersville, Slippery Rock, Shippensburg, Indiana, and the newly combined Bloomsburg, Mansfield, and Lock Haven (Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania) and Edinboro, Clarion, and California (Pennsylvania Western University).

It will be the fourth consecutive year of a tuition freeze for those schools.