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Penn State Students and
Parents:
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| Enclosed is your bill
from Penn State for fall semester tuition. The bill reflects an increase over
last year that is necessitated by significant reductions (approximately $50
million) in state support over the past two years, and rising costs for a broad
array of University services. |
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| We have
gone to great lengths to see that this year's increase is as low as possible.
At Penn State we pride ourselves on consistently being rated among the most
efficient universities in America. |
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| To keep
tuition increases to a minimum, last year I charged a task force headed by
Executive Vice President and Provost Rodney Erickson and Senior Vice President
for Finance and Business Gary Schultz to recommend cost savings and increase
non-tuition income. In May, the task force came back with $14 million in
recommended cuts and income enhancements that include savings on energy costs,
employee benefits, the merging of several administrative units, increases in
recovery of facilities and administrative costs on research, and across the
board cuts. The savings from the task force's recommendations are equivalent to
$200 per year for each full-time student. |
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| Reducing costs is not new
to Penn State. Over the past decade we have aggressively trimmed budgets,
producing $96 million in budget reallocations. |
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| Despite
our cost-cutting efforts, many University costs continue to rise at a rate well
above the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The costs of technology are increasing
rapidly, and library materials costs continue to increase in double-digit
percentages. Health insurance costs rose 16 percent last year and are projected
to increase another 16 percent in the coming year. General insurance costs have
soared, as have security costs at our labs and research centers due to the
events of 9/11. An increase in tuition to offset the losses of state revenue
and these rising costs is unavoidable. |
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| To help
you better understand tuition charges at Penn State, we have created a web page
that contains tuition rate schedules, frequently asked questions about tuition
rates, and an individual tuition calculator. This web site also provides more
detailed information about Penn State's 2003-04 budget, including my
presentation to the Board of Trustees on July 11. You can find it at
www.tuition.psu.edu. |
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| Our
goal at Penn State is to provide the highest quality education at a most
affordable cost. I want to assure you that we have implemented this year's
changes as thoughtfully as we could, and at every step with a commitment to
keeping our increases to a minimum. We are grateful for your
understanding. |
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Sincerely, |
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Graham B. Spanier |