University Times

The University has made good on its pledge to keep this fall’s tuition increases below last year’s increase in the Consumer Price Index.

In a July 13 meeting, the Pitt Board of Trustees executive committee approved a 2.8 percent blended tuition increase, below the 3.2 percent tuition hike cap University administrators agreed to in a bid to avoid cuts in the state appropriation. (See May 17 University Times.)

The trustees committee increased tuition rates 3 percent for students on the Pittsburgh campus and 2 percent for students on the regional campuses. A University release stated that the two levels of increase produce a blended tuition rate increase of 2.8 percent.

Tuition for most in-state undergraduates on the Pittsburgh campus will be $15,730 for the 2012-13 academic year, up from last year’s $15,272. Tuition for their out-of-state counterparts has been increased to $25,420, up from $24,680.

Tuition for part-time undergraduate in-state students on the Pittsburgh campus will rise to $655 per credit, up from $636, and $1,059 for out-of-state students, up from $1,028.

Regional campus tuition

At Pitt-Bradford, Pitt-Greensburg and Pitt-Johnstown, tuition for most in-state students has been increased to $11,970, up from $11,736. Out-of-state tuition rose to $22,366, up from $21,928.

Tuition at Pitt-Titusville for programs other than nursing was set at $10,544 for in-state students, up from $10,338 last year, and $19,918 for out-of-state students, up from $19,528.

Regional fees increasing

Fees for students on Pitt’s Bradford, Greensburg and Johnstown campuses are increasing in the fall term:

• Trustees approved the implementation of a student recreation fee at Pitt-Johnstown that will fund programmatic and operating costs of UPJ’s Health and Wellness Center and wellness-related activities.

Full-time students will pay $65 per term and part-time students will pay $15 per term.

• For students at Pitt-Bradford, a new parking and transportation fee will replace the annual vehicle registration fee of $60 for resident students with vehicles and $50 for commuter students to obtain parking privileges on campus.

K. James Evans, vice president and dean of Student Affairs at UPB, said “Every student will benefit from this whether he or she has a car or not,” adding that the campus’s Student Government Association endorsed the fee in order to continue transportation services for students.

The new fee of $40 per term for full-time students and $20 per term for part-time students covers parking privileges for one vehicle and free bus service in partnership with the Area Transportation Authority of North Central Pennsylvania.

In addition to regular bus routes from campus, Evans said students who give 24 hours’ notice receive free pickup at the Bradford bus station and Bradford Regional Airport.

The transportation fee also will subsidize the “buses home program,” covering the cost of transportation between Bradford and Pittsburgh to enable students to connect with buses to other cities during the Thanksgiving, December and spring recesses.

• At Pitt-Greensburg, the freshman socialization fee was increased to $90 per year.

First-year students had been paying a $50 per year socialization fee to cover events such as welcome week and first-year student convocation as well as other educational, recreational and socialization programs.

Pitt-Greensburg’s athletic fee also was increased to cover operating costs of varsity athletic programs. Trustees approved a fee of $95 per term for full-time students and $20 per term for part-time students.

The fees had been $80 per term for full-time students and $16 per term for part-time students.

—Kimberly K. Barlow