Penn State set to hike rates by 3.56% for ’23-24
Penn State has proposed an increase of about $448 per year in room and board costs for students taking the most common housing and meal plans at the University Park campus in State College.
The proposed increases, recommended by the trustees budget and finance committee Thursday, would push the annual room and board costs for those main campus students to $13,030 for the 2023-24 school year.
That’s a year-to-year jump of just under 3.6 percent.
For the first time, trustees are being asked to consider a slightly smaller increase for students attending its undergraduate commonwealth campuses. Residential
students at those sites will pay from $12,760 to $12,852 next year, depending which campus they attend.
All the proposed rate increases face final ratification by the full board of trustees Friday.
On a percentage basis, the proposed increase at University Park is the highest since the 2015-16 academic year.
Vice President for Business and Finance Sara Thorndike listed increased food and utility costs as major drivers behind the rate increases, and she also said the university is incurring some higher debt costs related to its ongoing dorm renovations at University Park.
As a point of comparison, Thorndike told the committee Penn State’s room and board fees are seventh highest among its 14 Big Ten Conference peers.
Thorndike said current occupancy projections show University Park student housing at 100 percent for the fall ’23 semester, though occupancy rates at the 11 commonwealth campuses with housing are projected at 80.2 percent.
Room and board fees are one major component of a student’s total cost of attendance at Penn State, and the university’s goal every year is to have its housing and food services pay for themselves, without tapping state funds or tuition dollars.
The other major student cost, tuition, is not normally set until the summer, after the university’s final state appropriation has been set.