Tuition increases affect Pitt main most

For another consecutive year the Board of Trustees raised tuition.

At budget and executive… For another consecutive year the Board of Trustees raised tuition.

At budget and executive committee meetings last Friday morning, the Pitt Board of Trustees approved a tuition increase of 4 to 6 percent for students at the Oakland campus in 2008-2009.

The tuition rate isn’t the only change in Pitt’s operating budget for this school year. The board approved a financial aid budget increase of 5.6 percent, and faculty and staff salaries will increase 4 percent.

The University will operate on a total budget of $1.71 billion for the 2009 fiscal year, the board approved.

For students, these numbers in the millions amount to differences of about $700 to $900 a year.

In-state undergraduate students enrolled after 2004 will pay 6 percent more in tuition this upcoming year. This rate jumps from last year’s $12,106 fee to this year’s price of $12,832. That’s a $726 increase.

Out-of-state students face a 4 percent increase on Oakland-campus tuition, putting their yearly education price tag at $22,480. Last year, they paid $21,616 for tuition, or $864 less.

At the Bradford, Johnstown, Greensburg and Titusville branch campuses, tuition is up 4 percent for in-state students and 2 percent for out-of-state students.

Lindsay Bannon, a junior biology student who recently transferred from Pitt-Greensburg’s campus to Oakland, said she isn’t personally concerned with the tuition costs, but her parents might be.

“[My family’s] not a rich family, but I can’t get any money for financial aid,” she said as she studied for a test in the Cathedral lobby. “They should try to offset aid for students if they’re going to increase tuition.”

The rate hike is the University’s response to the increased inflation rate and a decrease of support from the state government.

“State appropriation is the only revenue stream not keeping pace,” said Chancellor Mark Nordenberg at the meeting, qualifying the tuition increase after Arthur Ramicone, the vice chancellor for budget and controller, announced the 2008-09numbers.

According to figures presented at the meeting, inflation has increased 30 percent in the past eight years. In contrast, state appropriations for Pitt have increased 6.7 percent during the same time period.

One week prior to the tuition approval, Gov. Ed Rendell approved a 1.5 percent increase in state funding for Pitt, a number Nordenberg and other state-related university leaders in Pennsylvania publicly said was too little, the Post-Gazette reported.

In total, the Commonwealth will supply 11 percent of Pitt’s total operating budget for next year, an amount of just less than $190 million.

While a chunk of Pitt’s operating budget comes from the state, private sources pump in other funding.

The National Institutes of Health supplies faculty with grants for research and development in science and engineering. These research dollars propelled Pitt to No. 11 in national rankings for federal support for science and engineering research.

The University’s $2 billion capital campaign, which allows donors to endow facilities improvements, scholarships and faculty fellowships, among other things, recently surpassed the $1.25 billion mark, Nordenberg said.

Between these endowments, the research dollars and other financial support, the University receives $3.40 from private donations for every $1 from the state, a press release said.

But while tuition rates and financial aid increased for all undergraduate students this year, the private funding dollars often go toward hand-picked students for academic scholarships and research projects.

When asked how the University counteracts the heavier price tag on a Pitt education this year, Nordenberg responded that the University tries to attract diverse applicants by offering scholarships to talented students through programs like the capital campaign.

However, he acknowledged that not all students are eligible for scholarships.