Penn State’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved a $359,774, total state appropriation request for the 2020-2021 fiscal year at its public meeting Friday, an approximate $22.6 million increase over its approved 2019-2020 appropriation.

The request includes a $14.5 million increase in the university’s general support appropriation compared to the approved 2019-2020 appropriation.

The request also includes $28.34 million for the Penn College of Technology ($1.6 million increase), $58.3 million for agricultural research and extension ($3.3 million increase), and $14.2 million for Penn State Health’s Hershey Medical Center ($804,000 increase).

Pennsylvania’s current state budget, which was approved by Governor Tom Wolf in July, included a two-percent increase in Penn State’s general appropriation and allowed the Board to implement its second consecutive tuition freeze for in-state undergraduate students for the 2019-2020 academic year.

Penn State will now submit its appropriation request to Pennsylvania legislators. Wolf will submit a state budget proposal in February, it will be reviewed in February or March, and the legislature will decide on a final budget package by July 1. The Board will then set the university’s 2020-2021 budget at its July meeting.