INDIANA (TNS) — Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s council of trustees Friday approved a proposal for the school to return to a flat-rate tuition model for in-state, full-time undergraduate students, reducing annual costs for some of them by nearly 20%.
The plan, which must be approved by the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, could take effect as soon as the fall semester.
”Higher education, and the needs of our students and families, continue to evolve and require our flexibility,” IUP council chairman Sam Smith said in a statement. “IUP’s strategic plan takes us to a renewed and very clear mission of being a truly student-centered university, meeting the needs and wants of the students and families that we serve. We know that affordability has become even more important to them, and this new tuition plan reflects our prioritization of student success.”
The proposal would mean that undergraduate students who live in Pennsylvania and who are enrolled in 12 to 18 credits will pay $7,716 in annual tuition, regardless of academic credit load, according to IUP spokeswoman Michelle Fryling.
If the state system approves the proposal, all current and prospective in-state, undergraduate students taking 15 credits per semester would see their tuition cut by $1,854 per year beginning in the fall of 2022. That dollar figure accounts for about 20% of the school’s annual tuition rate.
Students taking 18 credits per semester for an academic year will save $3,768 — or 32% — in annual tuition.
The university moved to a per-credit payment system in 2016 as part of an effort to boost revenue and offer fairer prices. The change came at a time when IUP and other state-owned universities belonging to the state system faced state budget cuts and enrollment declines. IUP faculty union President Erika Frenzel said she was pleased that the university was going through the process of rescinding its per-credit payment model, which she blamed for a decrease in enrollment that led to other issues.
The union “has argued that the per-credit tuition model for our in-state undergraduate students would be — and is — detrimental to IUP,” Ms. Frenzel said in a statement. “It was detrimental to the affordability of IUP to our students, detrimental to our programs and departments, and overall to our university. The decrease in enrollment caused by per-credit tuition can be linked to IUP’s financial struggles that resulted in the retrenchment of faculty, furloughing of other union-represented units, and a panicked restructuring of the university.”
As of this year, IUP is the most expensive of the 14 schools in the state system with an average total cost of $25,714, driven by both newer residence halls and other development, plus the decision to replace the reduced flat rate for full-time tuition with per-credit pricing.
IUP has frozen tuition and fees as well as meal costs for the last three years, and housing costs have remained the same since 2016.
”As we maintain our commitment to quality, we believe this proposal will help us to provide even more opportunities for students to achieve their educational goals and dreams, while meeting the critical needs of the workforce in our region, our commonwealth, our nation and our world,” IUP President Michael Driscoll said in a statement.
”In the last several years, IUP has, out of necessity, put a great deal of focus on its financial sustainability,” he continued. “As we go forward, it’s time to focus on the core of our strategic plan, student centeredness. We know that financing a university education remains a challenge for many families, and two years of a global pandemic has exacerbated this situation for many families.”
