Penn State is seeking a tuition freeze for in-state undergraduate students for the 2027-2028 academic year, the university announced Friday. The request is part of the university’s latest appropriation request to the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

If approved by legislators, this would mark the fourth tuition freeze for in-state undergraduate students in the last seven years. University officials say the proposal reflects Penn State’s ongoing goal to make the school affordable and accessible to Pennsylvania students.

The request was endorsed on Thursday, September 11, by the Board of Trustees’ Committee on Finance and Investment and approved by the full board on Friday. This comes as the University continues to seek greater investment from state legislators.

“Penn State has a deep and historic partnership with the commonwealth, and we are proud to serve as its flagship public research university,” President Neeli Bendapudi said. “Yet, even as Penn State’s enrollment has grown over many decades, there has not been a corresponding increase in our state appropriation to keep pace. As a result, our funding per student lags behind all other public universities in Pennsylvania, placing significant pressure on our bottom line.”

Currently, Penn State receives about $5,796 in state support per Pennsylvania resident undergraduate, far behind Temple ($10,830), Pitt ($9,342), and the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education ($10,200). Nationally, public universities receive an average of $11,683 per student.

University officials estimate Penn State would need $148 million more each year just to match its Pennsylvania peers. Instead, Bendapudi said the university is only seeking $49 million to cover a tuition freeze for the 2027-28 academic year.

Alongside the $291.1 million general support request, Penn State is also seeking additional funding across its statewide operations and several of its programs:

• Agricultural Research and Extension/Land Scrip: $61.7 million ($4 million increase) to address agricultural threats, expand food and forestry economies, and advance agricultural technology.
• Pennsylvania College of Technology: $39.3 million ($5.3 million increase) to expand access to technical programs, with nearly 90% of its 4,900 students coming from Pennsylvania.
• Penn State Health and College of Medicine: $16.1 million ($766,000 increase) to support increased medical training and health care access, particularly in rural communities.

Penn State leaders argue that the funding request would benefit not only students but also the commonwealth at large. According to its recent study, the university generates a $15.8 billion annual economic impact in Pennsylvania and sustains nearly 110,000 jobs.

One in 10 Pennsylvania jobs is connected to Penn State or its alumni, and the university estimates that for every $1 in state funding, it returns $25.06 to the state’s economy.

Penn State will spend the next nine months lobbying for the appropriation package with lawmakers and the governor’s office. The legislature has until June 30, 2026, to pass the state budget and finalize its appropriations. Meanwhile, the university still waits for the resolution of its 2025-2026 state funding, which remains unsettled more than two months into the fiscal year.