Pa. public universities still rank high in costs

Tuition, fees third highest despite freeze

When tuition was frozen for tens of thousands of students attending Pennsylvania public universities in July, it was welcome news. But that was not enough, as it turns out, to alter a familiar script:

Tuition and fees for in-state students at Pennsylvania’s public universities again are the third highest in the nation, behind only Vermont and New Hampshire, according to data released Wednesday.

Even so, the College Board’s annual look at price suggests the state’s efforts to control costs have begun to bear some fruit. Pennsylvania was one of 13 states to hold public university increases to 1% or less for 2019-20, according to the report.

And Penn State University, often the most expensive of the nation’s public flagship universities, dropped another notch to third following a second consecutive tuition freeze this fall for instate undergraduates.

The “Trends in College Pricing 2019” report and a companion study of student aid paint a complex picture, including a longterm shift away from federal aid dispensed based on a student’s financial circumstances. Over three decades, it’s gone from 91% of the total to 33%.

The College Board pointed to “moderate growth in college prices and grant aid and declines in undergraduate borrowing. Yet, for many students, grant aid is not keeping pace with increases in tuition, fees and other expenses,” read a summation of the twin reports.

The College Board cited growing inequity in household earnings. The increase in average income among the top 5% of families from 1988 to 2018 was more than double the average income of families in the middle quintile and nine times the average of those in the lowest fifth of families last year, the board said.

“Given this reality, understanding how families pay for college requires separate analyses for families in different financial circumstances,” the report said.

Nationwide, average published tuition and fees for fulltime students at public four-year colleges and universities rose by 2.3% — from $10,210 last year to $10,440 as of this fall. With room and board, the total cost is $21,950.

On nonprofit private campuses, rates rose by 3.4% or $1,200 — from $35,680 in 2018-19 to $36,880 this year. Room and board brings the total average cost to $49,870.

Among the nation’s two-year campuses, average in-district

tuition and fees grew by 2.8% or $100, from $3,630 in 2018-19 to $3,730 this year.

For out-of-state students attending public four-year campuses, the percentage increase was similar to in-state students, but since non-residents pay more, it translated into larger dollar amounts.

Those non-resident rates grew by 2.4% — from $26,200 last year to $26,820 as of this fall. Average total out-ofstate charges in 2019-20, once room and board are factored in, averaged $38,330, according to the College Board.

In Pennsylvania, fouryear public campus tuition and fees, not including room and board, this year average $14,937, behind just New Hampshire, at $16,916, and Vermont, whose average of $17,474 was the nation’s highest.

The least expensive state was Wyoming, at $5,581, followed by Florida with an average four-year public price of $6,352.

In the Keystone state, blame for high tuition is usu- ally directed both at Pennsylvania’s near-dead-last place among states in campus subsidies, and what those schools spend.

In recent years, campus leaders have intensified ef- forts to curb prices, and in July alone, the 14 stateowned universities, Penn State and Temple univer- sities froze tuition. The University of Pittsburgh this year raised base main-campus tuition by 2.75%.

The need-based situation

Asked what drove such a large shift away from federal need-based aid, College Board officials said veterans’ benefits, education tax benefits and other programs such as non-subsidized loans grew more rapidly than federal Pell grants, subsidized loans and other, smaller needbased programs.

But Jennifer Ma, a co-author of the reports, said nonneed-based aid still can benefit students from poorer households. She cited the post 9/11 GI Bill.

“You don’t need to demonstrate financial need,” she said. “But we know that a lot of times veterans actually have financial need.”

The trend’s implications are not yet clear and are worth further study, she added.

“Ultimately, we want to make sure that the ones who receive financial aid are the ones who have financial need,” said Ms Ma., a senior policy research scientist.

College Board officials noted that published campus prices do not reflect what students actually pay after all forms of financial aid are counted.

Undergraduates received an average of $15,210 per fulltime-equivalent student in financial aid as a mix of grants, federal loans, education tax credits and Federal Work Study, according to “Trends in Student Aid,” covering 2018-19. That year, graduate students received an average of $28,140 per fulltime student.

Even though the nation’s total student debt remains about $1.5 trillion, the College Board noted continuation of an eight-year decline in annual student borrowing — from a high of $131.7 billion in (2018 dollars) in 2010-11 to $106.2 billion as of last year. The board cited enrollment declines and other factors.