Tuition rises slightly, but more costs could come

Pitt student Brittany Moreland said she doesn’t know what she will do when tuition rises this… Pitt student Brittany Moreland said she doesn’t know what she will do when tuition rises this year.

She already works three days per week, and she switched her major from pre-medicine to business partially because she “didn’t have time to study.”

She said, “It’s difficult. It’s a lot to balance.”

Still, this year’s tuition increase of $562is the lowest the University has passed in 10 years — so far, at least.

But additional fees might come, depending on how much — or, how little — Pitt receives from the stimulus package.

The executive and budget committees of Pitt’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously last week to increase tuition for students in the University’s colleges of Arts and Sciences, General Studies, Education, Social Work and Dental Medicine by $512 to $13,344. Out-of-state students in those colleges will pay $562 more, as their tuition rises to $23,042.

While the official tuition rate is set, Chancellor Mark Nordenberg said in the meetings in Posvar Hall that students might have to pay additional fees as early as this fall if the University doesn’t get as much money as it would like from state legislators and the federal stimulus.

Nordenberg said he could not predict the value of any surcharges, or additional fees, because he didn’t know the status of the state budget or stimulus application.

State legislators, now about three weeks past their deadline, are still sparring over a budget, largely over how much money to give to higher education. State appropriations account for an average of 10 to 11 percent of Pitt’s budget.

Further complicating the matter were Gov. Ed Rendell’s attempts to exclude the four state-related schools — Pitt, Penn State, Temple and Lincoln universities — from Pennsylvania’s application for stimulus funds because the institutions were not “under the absolute control of the Commonwealth.”

After receiving letters from numerous University administrators and 14 of Pennsylvania’s 19 U.S. representatives, officials in the U.S. Department of Education told Rendell to rewrite the state’s application to include the state-related schools.

Nordenberg said not knowing how much funding the University will receive “left [us] with what fairly can be described as a pair of less than desirable circumstances.”

He said the board could have chosen to increase tuition on the main campus at a “higher than desirable amount,” or it could increase the tuition in a smaller amount, with the understanding that additional charges could come later. Nordenberg said the board chose the second option because it wanted to relieve the burden on Pitt’s students and their families.

Suzanne Broadhurst, vice chairwoman of the Board of Trustees, said this is “one of the most discouraging times I’ve seen as a trustee.” She said she’s worked on the board for the past 13 or 14 years and watched the University increase its research and strive to maintain low tuition rates.

“I think it’s a tragic decision to think that we might go backward,” she said. “We cannot afford to let this engine go backward.”

Adrienne Atterberry, who graduated this spring, couldn’t agree more. She worked in Hillman Library 15 to 20 hours per week to earn the $4,000 she paid “out of pocket” each year.

“I might not have been able to afford to stay that extra year,” she said, reflecting on what would have happened had she started college a year later.

Tuition at Pitt’s branch campuses — Bradford, Greensburg, Johnstown and Titusville — will not rise.

Tuition increases in the main campus’ other schools are as follows:

—Engineering — in-state tuition up $546 to $14,234; out-of-state tuition up $614 to $25,178

—Information Sciences — in-state tuition up $552 to $14,370; out-of-state tuition up $606 to $24,894

—College of Business Administration — in-state tuition up $572 to $14,904; out-of-state tuition up $632 to $23,112

—Nursing and Health and Rehabilitation Sciences — in-state tuition up $646 to $16,798; out-of-state tuition up $714 to $29,284