Turzai votes against tuition increase at PASSHE board meeting

Board Member and Speaker of the House Mike Turzai (R-28th District) voted against a 2.99 percent increase in tuition for in-state students at Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) schools, along with three other PASSHE board members.

Turzai said the increased appropriation of state tax dollars should have prevented a tuition increase.

“To help Pennsylvania students better afford college, this year’s state budget increased PASSHE’s funding by more than 3.3 percent over last year,” Turzai said. “We had hoped that, given four straight increases in appropriations to the state system, that the board would see fit this year to not increase Pennsylvania students’ tuition. When legislators voted for the fourth straight increase in state funding, many members’ vote was predicated upon an expectation that the PASSHE universities would hold the line on tuition.”

The budget increases state funding by $15 million to $468 million for the state system for the 2018-19 fiscal year. Enrollment is projected to decline by 2.2 percent as compared to last year. Over the last four years, state investment in PASSHE has increased by 13.4 percent.

The board increased tuition by 3.5 percent in 2015-16, 2.5 percent in 2016-17 and 3.5 percent in 2017-18.