Tag Archives: Student

Mar 4 2012

Hurdle rises for in-state students as colleges court out-of-staters


By Debra Erdley8:51 a.m. EST, March 4, 2012

March 04–With less state money coming in, Penn State and the University of Pittsburgh are bolstering their budgets by enrolling out-of-state students who pay higher tuition.

School records show the ratio of out-of-state freshmen at the universities‘ main campuses increased over the past decade, from 37 percent to 40 percent at Penn State and from 17 percent to 35 percent at Pitt. That coincides with a 27 percent reduction in subsidies for Pennsylvania‘s four state-related universities — Pitt, Penn State, Temple and Lincoln — since 2001-02.

Out-of-state students pay full tuition and fees; the state subsidizes resident tuition at the schools.

The difference, according to forms the universities submit to theU.S. Department of Education, is stunning: $24,680 a year for out-of-state undergraduate tuition at Pitt, compared to $15,272 for Pennsylvania residents; at Penn State, $27,206 for out-of-state students, compared to $15,124 for residents.

 

Source:  Allentown Morning Call

Feb 29 2012

Student Debt Goes UP UP UP–Change needed!


In Pennsylvania, the average student loan debt is $44,000, according to the New York Reserve’s statistics, while the national average is $35,900.

Penn State is one of the most expensive public universities in the country, and is the highest average student debt producer out of other Big Ten schools, coming in at $31,133.

Josh Crawford, chair of the Penn State College Republicans, said student loan debt is like a bubble, ready to pop just like the housing bubble did in 2007.

Crawford (senior-crime, law and justice) said because everyone owes too much money, the bubble is growing — but when it will pop, no one knows.

“The costs will have to drop, and when they do, things will flatten out and will become more stabilized,” he said.

Thompson said the issue of student debt is an important one that needs to be addressed, though he is not sure if anything concerning student loans will be voted on this year.