Saturday, July 21, 2007

Pennsylvania residents attending the main campus of the University of Pittsburgh will pay 6.5 percent more for tuition starting this fall.

The 2007-08 tuition schedule approved Friday by the budget and executive committees of Pitt's board of trustees raises tuition for in-state students who enrolled in the School of Arts and Sciences in Oakland before the fall of 2004 from $10,246 this past year to $10,910 this fall. In-state students who enrolled after then will pay $12,106, compared to $11,368 last year.

Tuition for students on the regional campuses will rise 4 percent.

The tuition increase is the biggest on the main campus since 2004-05. Penn State University last week raised its tuition by 5.5 percent, and the State System of Higher Education on Thursday approved a 2.75 percent increase for the 14 state-owned universities.

"I'm outraged," said Matthew Carr, 22, a senior from Oakland. "It costs enough already, and I don't live on campus, so I have to pay rent and buy my own food."

Arthur G. Ramicone, Pitt's controller and vice chancellor for budget, contended that the increase was warranted because it is more expensive to run an urban university than rural ones such as Penn State and the State System schools.

"It's much more expensive on the Oakland campus," he said. "I don't know their budgets. I just know our budget."

Personnel costs, which account for about 60 percent of Pitt's budget, will rise 3.5 percent. Utility costs are up by $10 million, or 21.3 percent.

The biggest factor accounting for rising tuition, university officials said, has been declining state support. The state's appropriation accounted for 32 percent of Pitt's budget in 1975 and is only 11 percent now. In the fiscal 2008 budget, the state gave the university $186.9 million.

Some Pitt students on the Oakland campus expressed their displeasure.

"Our tuition is already pretty high for an in-state school," said Christina Lepore, 20, a junior from Peters whose parents pay for her education. "It's pretty much irritating because there isn't anything you can do about it."

"That's disturbing," said sophomore Terry Rowley, 19, of McCandless. "It's a lot to pay for an education."

She and her parents pay for her education. Rowley works as a guide in the Cathedral of Learning's Nationality Rooms.

The rising cost of a college education is a national concern. More than 400 student leaders from the United States Student Association, based in Washington, will meet at Pitt today through Thursday. They will hold a rally on campus at 2 p.m. Tuesday urging colleges and government leaders to make a college education more affordable.

"It's startling that universities are raising tuition so significantly, and students are graduating with extreme levels of unmanageable debt because of it," said Rebecca Thompson, the group's legislative director.

Pitt's tuition increases were part of a $1.64 billion operating budget for fiscal 2008 that the board's committees adopted yesterday. The past fiscal year's budget was about $1.4 billion.

Pitt approved a capital budget of $194 million for fiscal 2008. It provides $35.8 million for renovating Benedum Hall, $15.6 million for the University Club and $13.7 million for Falk School.

Bill Zlatos can be reached at bzlatos@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7828.