PASSHE governors approve state funding, freeze tuition for seventh year

Harrisburg, Pa. — In a special meeting Wednesday morning, the Board of Governors of Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education accepted the commonwealth's 2024-25 appropriation of nearly $614.8 million, an increase of 6% over 2023-24, as well as a tuition fee freeze for a seventh consecutive year for Indiana University of Pennsylvania and nine sister institutions.

"We were kind of ahead of the curve," said Board Vice Chair Samuel Smith, who also chairs the IUP Council of Trustees. "We kind of stepped out on a limb in the first year when we froze tuition."

Smith acknowledged that the presidents of what then were 14 universities (six now are folded into two regional multi-campus universities) "were concerned about this."

PASSHE Chancellor Dr. Dan Greenstein said it will allow for continued "affordable, high-quality education" at the 10 universities, "to keep our economy moving."

For IUP, an allocation of just over $63.5 million was approved, up from almost $59.4 million in 2023-24.

IUP President Dr. Michael A. Driscoll, who participated in the Wednesday morning virtual gathering broadcast over Zoom, said the freeze "also reinforces IUP’s own commitment to recognizing and taking action to address the financial challenges faced by our students and families."

Driscoll said IUP, "in addition to our recent tuition reduction for students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels," has "made significant reductions in fees for dual enrollment students, have frozen housing and dining costs for the past six years, and annually, we provide more than $15 million in IUP scholarships, including housing scholarships."

In materials released along with Wednesday's agenda, PASSHE officials noted that, "in June 2022, the Board (of Governors) approved revisions to the policy that distributes PASSHE state appropriations to the universities based on two components: core operations and enrollment."

PASSHE officials said the core operations portion provides funding to cover expenses associated with running a university — regardless of the number of students.

They said the enrollment component also layers additional funding in an additive manner to support student success around several categories: under-represented minority students, Pell eligible students, progress toward degree, and program level.

"Including the increased investment for this year, we will have seen our funding increase by almost one third just in the past five years," said Board Chair Dr. Cynthia Shapira. "It says a lot about the partnership that we have built with our elected leaders who understand and appreciate the value of our PASSHE universities."

Also touched upon during a meeting that lasted just over 20 minutes Wednesday morning was a new cooperation with the state's community colleges, even to bringing the president of the Community College of Allegheny County on to the PASSHE Board of Governors.

Greenstein said that "coordination and strategy with colleagues across the state" is "such an outstanding advancement for our state, with such opportunities."

More details in Thursday's Indiana Gazette.