Penn State now says mid-year tuition hike a possibility

Another state-related university is warning that it may impose a mid-year tuition increase unless it receives its overdue state appropriation for 2017-18.

Penn State University says it has been unable to obtain assurances that it will receive its funding for the fiscal year that began July 1. As did the University of Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Penn State said it believes the funding is now in jeopardy.

“We are deeply concerned that this is not a temporary stall tactic,” Penn State president Eric Barron said in a statement Thursday. “We fear it is a complete elimination of our $230.4 million general appropriation, as well as the $22 million needed by Penn College, and the $52.3 million that supports the statewide work of our Agricultural Research and Extension operations.”

Were that to happen, he said,

irreparable harm would be done to Penn State and to the commonwealth.

“A gap in state funding this large cannot simply be absorbed and we would be forced to make even more dramatic cuts and raise tuition, perhaps even for the upcoming spring semester,” Mr. Barron said.

Pitt and Penn State already are among the most expensive public universities in the nation, charging Pennsylvanians a base yearly main campus tuition of $18,130 and $17,416, respectively. Both blame lagging state support.

Penn State enrolls 99,000 students, and Pitt has 35,000. The prospect of midyear price hikes further raises the public stakes in a standoff between House Republican leaders and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf over how to pay for the state's $32 billion budget and close a $2 billion deficit.

Pitt chancellor Patrick Gallagher made similar remarks on Tuesday, expressing concern that his school and the other three state-related universities — Penn State, Temple and Lincoln — would receive no state funding at all. He said Pitt approved its operating budget and tuition schedule for 2017-18 on the assumption the state would provide $147 million in aid, roughly the same as last year.

Mr. Gallagher said if it appears by next month that no appropriation is likely, Pitt and its board of trustees may amend the university’s operating budget and reconsider its tuition.