July 08, 2021
Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice
Temple University increased its in-state and out-of-state base tuition by 2.5% — marking the first increase for in-state students in the past two years.
Temple University's Board of Trustees voted to increase the school's in-state and out-of-state tuitions for the 2021-2022 school year by 2.5% at a meeting Tuesday.
The hike marks the first time in-state tuition has gone up since the 2018-2019 school year, according details published by a university-run magazine.
The base tuition for full-time, in-state students will now be $16,488 per year – up $408 from the previous rate of $16,080.
Out-of-state students will pay $720 more per year, as the new annual base tuition is $29,712, up from $28,992 last academic year.
Certain colleges, like the College of Science and Technology, have higher tuition rates, meaning that with the increase, in-state students will pay $20,568 per year and out-of-state students will pay $33,792 per year.
The university said it avoided raising tuition over the pandemic to ease the financial burden for students.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged us all, and that was the primary driver behind keeping tuition flat for the past two years," said Ken Kaiser, Temple’s vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer. "This slight increase shows we’re getting back to the normal cycle where tuition partially covers the increasing costs of education while also ensuring our students have access to the high-quality, affordable education that is a hallmark of Temple University."
Kaiser told WHYY that the increase is needed to cover rising compensation rates for the 11 contracted bargaining units at the university.
The university said it imposed a 3% budget cut to keep tuition increases lower. Around 18.5% of undergraduate student revenue will go towards financial aid, which the university estimates is around $100 million.
Temple said it set aside $69 million of federal stimulus money to help students financially.
"We’re aware that this is still a financially difficult time for students and families, so we’ve worked to strike the balance between a slight tuition increase and a slight budget cut. That helps us ensure that we do not harm students’ educational experience here at Temple. That’s especially important this year as we expect campus to regain the vibrancy it was known for prior to the pandemic," Kaiser said.
The school received $158.2 million from the state, which has been the rate for the past three years.
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