State System of Higher Education Votes for a Second Consecutive Year to Freeze Tuition

AdminApril 29, 2020Last Updated: April 29, 2020

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HARRISBURG – The Board of Governors for Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education on Wednesday, for the first time in its 38-year history, froze basic in-state tuition for a second consecutive year, even while confronting financial challenges brought on in part by the coronavirus pandemic.

Basic in-state tuition for undergraduate students at Lock Haven University and the system’s 13 other universities will remain at $7,716 for the 2020-21 academic year. Also remaining the same will be the system’s technology fee for students, which stands at $478 for the academic year. The Board voted to freeze tuition and the technology fee unanimously.

“We are united in believing that even under these historic, extraordinary circumstances, the State System must maintain its affordability and not pass the burden of these times onto our students,” said Cindy Shapira, chair of the Board of Governors. “While the coronavirus has impacted so much of our society and economy, what remains the same is our mission to provide quality, affordable, accessible public higher education.”

In other board action:

The State System approved a 10-year loan up to $6 million to Mansfield University, a measure that will support the 163-year-old institution with a path toward fiscal sustainability and accountability. Mansfield University must submit a fiscal sustainability report to the chancellor before the promissory note is executed and afterwards achieve clear cost-saving measures to be reviewed by the Chancellor.

“This measure will help ensure the Northern Tier has the higher education and economic development resources it needs for the future,” Greenstein said. “It comes with measurable outcomes and meaningful accountability, and I’m confident Mansfield’s leadership already has this proud institution moving in the right direction.”

The Board also approved an extension of a retirement incentive program to five collective bargaining units, making about 460 employees newly eligible.