UNIVERSITY PARK, PA - SEPTEMBER 30: Penn State Nittany Lions cheerleaders entertain crowds before the football team arrives for a game against the Indiana Hoosiers on September 30, 2017 at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.
Penn State d HARRISBURG, Pa. - Four Pennsylvania universities said Wednesday they will follow through with tuition increases despite calls from House Republicans to roll back the price hikes.The lawmakers, including Sen.
Doug Mastriano, R-Franklin, the GOP nominee for governor, argue Penn State, University of Pittsburgh, Lincoln and Temple are receiving federal funds and do not need to increase tuition.The universities did not receive a bump in funding in this year’s state budget.
Instead, through one-time federal funds, the universities will split about $30 million on top of budget funding."From a long-term planning standpoint, it would not be prudent for us to use it as part of our recurring operations," said Steve Orbanek, a Temple University spokesman.Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi said the funds would be put toward student success."This infusion of one-time funds, though, will not eliminate the larger financial pressures the institution is facing," she said.Mastriano and House Republican leaders sent letters to the universities in recent days."In at least two instances, the state flat-funding appropriations over last year was cited as a cause for the tuition increase," House Republican leadership said in a statement Wednesday.