Madison Kwiecinski  – Editor-in-Chief

Mvk5945@psu.edu

Penn State’s Board of Trustees has recently unveiled a plan to ask for a historic increase in state funding. The board’s request would be a 47.6 percent increase from the current level of state funding Penn State receives. 

Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Sara Thorndike has stated that while this would be an unprecedented single-year increase, it would also simply be bringing Penn State up to par with the amount of per-student funding other public universities in Pennsylvania currently receive. The requested increase would place Penn State funding from the state at the same level as Temple University, the next lowest per-student funded public university. 

State funding is traditionally PSUused by Penn State to cover the difference in tuition annually for in-state students compared to out-of-state residents. Essentially, state funding is used to lower tuition for in-state students, and currently lowers tuition by $13,400 at Penn State. 

Currently, Penn State receives approximately $5,600 per each in-state student. Meanwhile, Pitt receives $9,049 per in-state student and Temple receives $8,725. 

University President Neeli Bendapudi stated at the Board of Trustees committee meeting, “We are grateful to the General Assembly and, truthfully, as we talk to people, we realize that many people are not even aware of this discrepancy.”

An increase to PSU funding per in-state student is something that will directly affect any in-state student enrolled at PSU for the next academic year. Increased state funding will directly go towards lowering tuition for Pennsylvanian students, as well as some being allocated towards salary increases to retain personnel and necessary renovation projects. 

According to PSU’s website, “Even as state funding has lagged inflation, Penn State, in accordance with its land-grant mission to educate the citizens of the commonwealth, has continued to provide an in-state tuition discount that far exceeds the per-student appropriation.” Penn State more than doubles the per-student funding they receive through the difference in tuition rates. 

PSU recently concluded a record-breaking funding campaign, where over $2.2 billion was raised. However, it is important to note that endowments the university receives are not able to function as an alternative to state funding, which is necessary to the universities success. 

“We are exceptionally grateful for our donors, as their generosity allows us to achieve a variety of priorities, such as lowering the cost of attendance for thousands of students through endowed scholarship programs and other designated student-focused support,” said President Bendapudi. “However, 99% of the funds raised from our campaign are restricted and must be used for the purpose specified by the donor — be it a scholarship program, support for a new facility, or an endowed professorship. What this means is, at a fundamental level, we can’t use our endowment to cover basic teaching costs or to lower tuition. That’s where the state appropriation comes in and why it is so critical to our students.”