Pitt asks state legislature for increase in funding

Pitt might cap next year’s tuition increases at 4 percent if it gets more money from the state… Pitt might cap next year’s tuition increases at 4 percent if it gets more money from the state legislature.

The University has increased its request for state funding by 5 percent for the next fiscal year. The request, sent late last month to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, asked for a total of $194.1 million next year. Pitt received $184 million for this year.

The request also said that Pitt would increase its salaries by 3 percent next year.

Pitt spokesman John Fedele said that it is “impossible” to calculate how much tuition might go up next year until the exact amount the University will receive is clear.

“The University will do everything in its power to minimize tuition increases,” he said.

The level of state funding Pitt receives has grown almost every year for the past 15 years, according to the University’s fact book. But Pitt’s budget has more than doubled in that time, and the state appropriation has shrunk to less than 10 percent of the budget, from almost 20 percent in 1996.

Pitt’s appropriation for this year and last year included some federal funding, between $7 million and $9 million each year.

The University raised tuition between 2.5 and 5.5 percent across all campuses and programs for this academic year. Students at Pitt’s regional campuses faced the smallest increase of 2.5 percent.

In-state students at Pitt’s main campus saw the biggest percent tuition jump this fall at 5.5 percent. That’s a jump from $13,344 to $14,076, or an increase of about $600 each year to attend the School of Arts and Sciences. Out-of-state student tuition went up 3 percent, about $700, to $23,732.

The state treats Pitt, Penn State University, Lincoln University and Temple University as state-related institutions, and contributes annually to their budgets.

Pennsylvania’s fiscal year runs from July to June, and the budget appropriation for Pitt and the other state-related universities is decided in a separate bill from the main state budget.