YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University officials have approved increasing tuition for incoming freshmen starting in the fall 2022 semester.
“Obviously, the university is not immune to inflation,” Neal P. McNally, vice president of financial and business operations, said after YSU’s quarterly board of trustees meeting Thursday.
McNally cited inflation as a primary reason for the move, which will entail a 4.6 percent increase for incoming freshmen. He also stressed that the increase will affect the new undergraduate students only, not those already enrolled, because of YSU’s Penguin Tuition Promise.
Consequently, full-time incoming freshmen in fall 2022 will pay $5,205.24 per semester, compared to the $4,976.40 rate per semester those who enrolled in fall 2021 are paying, Ron Cole, university spokesman, noted.
The Penguin Promise program ensures students’ tuition rates are based on their initial enrollment year and will remain the same for four consecutive academic years in an effort to make their tuition more affordable and predictable, McNally explained.
The 4.6 percent rate is the maximum allowed by Ohio law, he noted.
The tuition adjustment also could save the university an additional $1 million to $1.5 million in revenue, McNally said.
Also, the tuition increase comes amid declining enrollment figures and YSU’s recent decision to eliminate 26 associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s level programs, all of which had few or no students. A total of only 87 students were in the programs, officials have said.
The move will allow for a financially leaner university to operate more efficiently, and it’s hoped that discontinuing the 26 “doesn’t overshadow the fact that we have over 125 robust and efficient programs,” McNally said.
Despite the tuition increases, the cost of obtaining an education at YSU will remain the third-lowest of all state universities, he added. McNally also cited only Shawnee State University in Portsmouth and Central State University in Wilberforce as being cheaper.
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