University of Pittsburgh says it's willing to freeze in-state tuition in 2024-25 -- if it gets a larger state subsidy

The University of Pittsburgh says it’s willing to freeze in-state tuition for the 2024-25 academic year, provided the state delivers a larger-than-usual state appropriation that year – a 9.25% increase.

The dollar request was conveyed to state officials in a letter of intent on Thursday.

An in-state freeze would apply to thousands of Pennsylvanians attending the main Oakland campus and branches that include Pitt-Greensburg in Hempfield, Pitt-Johnstown, Pitt-Bradford and Pitt-Titusville.

The letter to the state Department of Education comes as Pitt’s already-overdue July 1 state appropriation for fiscal year 2023-24 remains mired in a dispute involving a number of Republican state legislators. They have held up passage of funding proposed by Gov. Josh Shapiro.

Also affected are Penn State, Temple and Lincoln universities.

Pitt, where Chancellor Joan Gabel took office this summer, indicated that it wants to attempt a different approach to the budget process for 2024-25.

In a statement released on Saturday confirming the letter, Pitt said campus officials are “looking to partner with our legislators” to avoid a tuition inrease next year.

The letter comes a week before Pitt’s trustees are due to hold their fall meeting, during which state appropriation requests are typically approved.

Pennsylvania’s pricey public campus tuitions — and the role tepid government support for higher education relative to other states plays in that distinction — have been a background issue in annual appropriation talks for decades.

In recent years, a number of Republican lawmakers have highlighted other grievances, too.

They include a general lack of transparency by Pitt and other state-related universities in spending and decision-making, their refusal to guarantee upfront a tuition freeze in return for a 7.1% appropriation increase for this school year, and Pitt’s use of fetal tissue from elective abortions in research.

As state-related universities, Pitt, Penn State, Temple and Lincoln universities are public but not state-owned. As a result, they are largely exempt from Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law. State agencies including the 10 universities of the State System of Higher Education are covered by the law.

The Pitt-published University Times, a faculty and staff publication, first reported on the letter and potential tuition freeze Friday.

In response to an inquiry from the Tribune-Review on Saturday about it, Pitt spokesman Jared Stonesifer released a statement on behalf of the university.

“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,” read the statement.

“Our approach this year is different as we are looking to partner with our legislators to freeze in-state tuition for 2024-25,” it read.

“To achieve this, the University would need an 11.75% increase in (Fiscal Year) 2025 over the amount proposed by Gov. Shapiro in his FY 2024 budget,” the statement continued. “However, we are not requesting the full increase from the state. Instead, Pitt is committed to sharing this expense and is willing to cover 2.5% of the increase through cost savings.

“Our ongoing focus on cost reduction while maintaining a high-quality educational experience for our students remains a top priority, and as a result, Pitt is requesting a 9.25% increase in our appropriation for FY 2025, totaling $177 million,” it concluded.

Campus officials have said the university works to offset price impacts, offering $275 million in institutional financial aid last year, a commitment that will continue going forward. About half of all Pitt’s students, in-state and out-of-state, receive financial aid that is beyond the in-state student discount.

In July, Pitt trustees voted to raise base tuition for in-state undergraduates on its main campus by 2% effective this fall, but froze tuition on its branch campuses.

Out-of-state undergraduates received tuition increases of 7% on the main campus, while graduate students from both Pennsylvania and outside the state will see their rates go up by 3.5%.

Pitt in total has nearly 34,000 students, of which about 20,300 are Pennsylvania residents.

The annual base tuition for in-state students on the Oakland main campus rose by nearly $400, from $19,760 to $20,155 — highest among Pennsylvania’s state-related universities. Non-Pennsylvania undergraduates on the main campus will pay $38,520.

Spokespeople for House Republicans and Democrats could not immediately be reached for comment Saturday on the letter.

On Thursday, during a news conference at Pitt on the stalled appropriation, Pittsburgh-area House and Senate Democrats urged a resolution to the state budget delay.

Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, D-Allegheny, said: “It’s time for all parties to come to the table and finally deliver crucial funding for Pitt and the other state-related universities. Our students, educators, staff and workers are depending on us to finish the job.”

State-related universities say they use their annual state appropriation to discount by thousands of dollars the tuition that Pennsylvanians pay.

In March, Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed a 7.1% increase for the state-related universities, including Pitt. It would receive $165.8 million in general support including rural education outreach, a $10.7 million increase.