READING - Penn State trustees approved a tuition freeze holding academic costs for all Pennsylvania resident undergraduate students at current levels for the 2018-19 academic year.
Rates for non-resident students, under the schedule adopted Friday, will increase 3.6 percent at University Park; and in a range of 2.7 percent to 3.3 percent at the 19 undergraduate branch campuses.
The freeze for in-state students - the second in the last four years - was promised in June by President Eric Barron as part of state budget negotiations in Harrisburg.
At that time, Barron pledged to legislative leaders that if Penn State received a proposed 3 percent increase in direct state aid, that would be enough for him to recommend to trustees that in-state tuitions be frozen this year.
Across all campuses, Penn State says 71 percent of its students hail from Pennsylvania and will benefit from the rate freeze.
Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre County, hailed the board's action in a statement released by his office Thursday, after the final tuition schedule was released.
"Today's action is welcome news to Pennsylvania residents saving toward or paying for a Penn State education," Corman said.
Under the plan, which accompanies a $6.5 billion operating budget, tuition for entering Pennsylvania resident students at Penn State's main, University Park campus would hold at $17,416 for the year.
(The above figure is for freshmen and sophomores only. Penn State tuitions jump from about $1,400 to $5,000 per year for a student's junior and senior years, depending upon their major.)
Total cost of attendance is still growing, however.
When combined with costs of traditional housing and meal plans - which are bumping up by 2.5 percent - and mandatory student fees, the full tab for that hypothetical in-state student will be $29,514 for 2018-19.
That's up $288, or just under 1 percent, from 2017-18.