HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Board of Governors for Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education announced Thursday that it will freeze basic in-state tuition rates at its member schools for a third consecutive year.
The decision affirms the Board's commitment to keeping public higher education at its 14 universities affordable for students during the ongoing pandemic, the Board said in a press release.
The decision which carried by unanimous vote, keeps basic in-state tuition for undergraduate students in the 2021-22 academic year at $7,716. Also remaining the same will be the System’s technology fee for students, which stands at $478 for the academic year, the Board said.
“I am proud to join my fellow Board members in prioritizing an accessible, affordable public higher education for our students,” said Cindy Shapira, chair of the Board of Governors. “A quality education and an affordable one go hand-in-hand at our universities. Students deserve our full support as they continue focusing on attaining a degree through the pandemic.”
The PASSHE has never kept basic in-state tuition rates the same for three consecutive years, the Board said.
Chancellor Dan Greenstein said the decision was essential to fulfilling public higher education’s mission.
“Sixty percent of jobs in Pennsylvania require a post-secondary degree, but only 47 percent of Pennsylvanians have one,” he said. “To help Pennsylvania build a modern-day economy, to remain a reliable pathway for students into and beyond the middle class, to ensure every Pennsylvanian who wants can access quality higher education, we must take bold action like today’s vote on tuition.”
