On March 2, the Board of Governors approved the proposal.
Already recognized nationally for its academic excellence and value, ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø has developed a plan to make an IUP education even more affordable for students and families.
Today, IUP’s Council of Trustees approved a proposal to reduce annual tuition for undergraduate in-state students, effective for the fall 2022 semester—resulting in an almost 20 percent savings for students who take 15 credits each semester.
Beginning with the fall 2022 semester, IUP is reducing its tuition by $1,854 per year for all current and prospective in-state, undergraduate students taking 15 credits per semester. That is nearly a 20 percent savings from IUP’s current tuition rate. The 15-credit per semester model positions students to complete their studies in four years.
Students taking 18 credits per semester for an academic year will save even more—a total of $3,768 (a 32 percent savings) in annual tuition.
In essence, undergraduate students who live in ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø and who are enrolled in 12 to 18 credits will pay $7,716 in annual tuition, regardless of academic credit load.
With today’s approval by the Council of Trustees, this new tuition plan will be submitted for review and consideration for approval by the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø State System of Higher Education Board of Governors at its meeting on March 2.
“As we maintain our commitment to quality, we believe this proposal will help us to provide even more opportunities for students to achieve their educational goals and dreams while meeting the critical needs of the workforce in our region, our commonwealth, our nation, and our world,” IUP President Michael Driscoll said.
“In the last several years, IUP has, out of necessity, put a great deal of focus on its financial sustainability. As we go forward, it’s time to focus on the core of our strategic plan, student centeredness,” he said. “We know that financing a university education remains a challenge for many families, and two years of a global pandemic has exacerbated this situation for many families,” President Driscoll said.
“Prioritizing IUP’s financial issues to ensure stability has been critically important to IUP’s present and its future,” IUP Council of Trustees Chairman Sam Smith said. “These decisions were made carefully and strategically,” he said.
“Higher education, and the needs of our students and families, continue to evolve and require our flexibility. IUP’s Strategic Plan takes us to a renewed and very clear mission of being a truly student-centered university, meeting the needs and wants of the students and families that we serve. We know that affordability has become even more important to them, and this new tuition plan reflects our prioritization of student success,” he said.
IUP has frozen tuition and fees and meal costs for the last three years and housing costs have remained steady since 2016. More than $2 million in housing scholarships have been given since fall 2021, and the $1,000 housing scholarship for new and continuing students will continue for fall 2022.
In 2020–21, IUP students received more than $16.4 million in scholarships from the university in addition to state and federal aid, and approximately 93 percent of fall 2021 first-year students were offered renewable merit scholarships, with an average award of $3,800.
“I want to thank every member of our Council of Trustees for their leadership, foresight, and wise counsel in working through this plan, and I also want to offer my thanks to members of the IUP team who developed this proposal,” Driscoll said. “I also want to express IUP’s appreciation to the Board of Governors for their willingness to consider this tuition affordability proposal,” he said.
More information on the proposal will be released following the March 2 meeting of the Board of Governors.