Dive Brief:
- Pennsylvania's universities seem to be responding to budget woes with creative tuition strategies, and Indiana University of Pennsylvania will become the latest to drop a flat tuition for full-time students in favor of per-credit charges.
- The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that IUP President Michael Driscoll expects extra tuition revenue from the initiative to help fill a $15 million budget shortfall and create a system that is more fair, charging students for exactly the number of courses they take.
- The state system used to have uniform tuition pricing, but in the last few years dozens of modifications have allowed schools to make adjustments based on market conditions — and some worry the latest experiment at IUP amounts to further degradation of a commitment to affordability.
Dive Insight:
While the per-credit pricing structure is sure to save students taking the lower end of a full-time courseload, it will amount to a higher sticker price for many others. Indiana University of Pennsylvania plans to phase in the new structure and offer financial aid to offset the increases, which could top $1,100 per year for some students. If implementation goes smoothly and the university can increase tuition revenue, it is likely other schools will follow suit.
Pennsylvania colleges and universities weathered a state budget battle over the plan for the 2015-16 fiscal year that just ended last week. Illinois’ state government still has not come to an agreement, nine months into the fiscal year, leaving higher education institutions without any state funding at all. The overall trend in state investment in higher education is positive, but many institutions are dealing with the consequences of massive disinvestment during the recession, making strategies like IUP's all the more tempting.