PITTSBURGH — The University of Pittsburgh is looking at potentially freezing tuition for in-state students for the 2024-25 school year, but it all depends on how much money they can get from the state.
Pitt is looking for nearly $15 million more than Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposal for this fiscal year. That’s more than a 9% increase. They announced this in a letter of intent to state lawmakers on Friday.
If lawmakers grant this larger-than-normal funding increase to the university, Pitt said it would not increase the cost of tuition for students who are from Pennsylvania and go to Pitt’s main campus or branches.
“I think it would be beneficial for a lot of students,” said Renee Inks, a Pitt junior. “Not increasing the price would be a good thing.”
The $177 million Pitt is requesting from the state doesn’t quite reach exactly what the university says it would need to freeze tuition for students from Pennsylvania.
A spokesperson tells Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek the university would cover the roughly 2.5% difference, which would be about $4 million in cost savings.
“The University of Pittsburgh will not be making reductions that will impact the quality of the education it provides to students, nor will we be making cost reductions at the expense of Pitt’s hardworking faculty and staff. Instead, the University will continue to focus on cost reduction efforts through a broad range of initiatives including strategic sourcing, streamlining operations, sharing services, emphasizing sustainability, and improving productivity through system enhancements,” said Jared Stonesifer, Pitt spokesperson.
Stonesifer added, “While the University of Pittsburgh has yet to receive state funding for the current academic year, we remain hopeful that our lawmakers will maintain their nearly 60-year partnership with the university and support our efforts to provide Pennsylvania students and their families with an in-state tuition discount.”
Not all students think it’s necessary for the state to increase Pitt’s funding.
“It all depends,” said Marisa Furnari, a Pitt sophomore. “Like, if it’s going to affect people who don’t have students in school and aren’t paying tuition, I don’t think it should affect their taxes or anything. It all just depends.”
In its statement, the University of Pittsburgh goes on to say, “Our commitment is unwavering in our pursuit of minimizing costs for Pitt students while upholding the delivery of a high-quality, world-class education. Decisions regarding tuition rates are difficult, but the University’s leadership aims to carefully balance economic demands, market forces and other competitive factors along with the needs of our students and their families.”
The university will submit its final request to lawmakers by Friday, Sept. 29.
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