Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf called for Penn State to receive a 5% funding increase, its first in three years, during his annual budget address on Tuesday.

The proposal must be approved by the Pennsylvania General Assembly to be included in the state’s final budget plan in June. If met, the state funding increase would be Penn State’s first since the 2019-20 academic year.

Wolf’s proposal would align with Penn State’s appropriation request, which helps the university offer a discounted in-state tuition rate to more than 45,000 students across the commonwealth.

Penn State President Eric Barron is set to appear before the Pennsylvania Senate and House appropriations committees in March to advocate for the funding increase.

“While this is the first step in Pennsylvania’s budget process, I am encouraged by Gov. Wolf’s robust support for higher education in this budget, as state funding is the financial bedrock of Penn State’s land-grant partnership with the commonwealth,” Barron said in a release. “We look forward to continued conversations with the governor and the General Assembly this spring about the value of public higher education and how Penn State’s appropriation positively impacts Pennsylvania and the students and communities we serve.”

Specifically, the proposed budget plan allocates $254.2 million toward Penn State’s general support appropriation (a $12.1 million increase from 2021-22), $57.7 million towards Penn State Agricultural Research (a $2.7 million increase from 2021-22), and $28.1 million towards Pennsylvania College of Technology, an affiliate of the university. An additional $2.35 million is allocated to Invent Penn State, the university’s entrepreneurship program.