For the seventh consecutive year, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education has decided to freeze in-state tuition for its nine universities, writes Ryan Mulligan for the Philadelphia Business Journal.
On Wednesday, the system’s board of governors unanimously voted to keep the tuition rate at $7,716 for undergraduate in-state students, the same as in 2018 and the following years.
The ability to maintain a flat rate is largely credited to a $35.1 million increase in funding approved last week in the state budget.
Each university can set its tuition rates for out-of-state undergraduates and graduate students.
According to officials, the sixth tuition freeze in a row will save students almost 25 percent compared to what the cost would have been this year with annual increases.
PASSHE has nine institutions, including West Chester University and Cheyney University, and 82,000 students. Almost 90 percent of them are Pennsylvania residents.
West Chester is the largest with 17,108 students, 15,211 of whom are in-state.
West Chester University President Laurie Bernotsky said the school “educates the 99 percent who want a high quality education at an affordable cost.”
Read more about the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education in the Philadelphia Business Journal.
Lawmakers look at proposals to keep college tuition costs low in Pennsylvania
