YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – It will cost 3% more to attend Youngstown State University beginning next fall if trustees approve a resolution at the board’s regular meeting Thursday.
The board’s Finance and Facilities Committee approved the increase in undergraduate tuition and other fees at a meeting Wednesday. Because of the Penguin Promise though, which locks a student’s tuition for four years at the amount when they first enrolled, the increase would affect new students.
Neal McNally, vice president for finance and business operations, said miscellaneous fees would also increase by 3.2%, while graduate and online programs would see inflationary increases of about 2%.
“This action will go a long way in helping the university keep pace with inflationary pressure and provide enough tuition revenue to help us meet our spending commitments now and into the future,” McNally said.
Undergraduate tuition would increase $170.64 per semester for both resident and nonresident bachelor degree students, to $5,859 and $6,039, respectively. For associate degree students, it would increase by $98, and for master level and doctoral students the per semester amount would increase by $209 and $221, respectively, per semester.
The committee also approved a budget to operate YSU’s Steubenville campus, set to open this fall at the former Eastern Gateway Community College.
“So most, if not all, of our operating expenses for Steubenville next year will be covered by a $2.5 million state RAPIDS [Regionally Aligned Priorities In Delivering Skills] grant that was funded” by the state legislature, McNally said.
He said part of the strategy of using the grant to fund operating expenses is to reduce the risks inherent with starting a new campus 70 miles away from Youngstown.
“So we think we have a pretty good handle on operating expenses,” the vice president said.
YSU President Bill Johnson said the university is requesting $3.5 million in the next capital budget for Steubenville operations.
“We’ve gotten assurances from our legislative leaders, both in the state House and the state Senate, as well as the governor’s office and [Ohio Department of Higher Education] and the office of budget management” that they support the request, Johnson said during the trustees’ Academic Quality and Student Success Committee meeting Wednesday.
The Steubenville campus will open this fall with 14 associate and five certificate programs.
“We hope to add more as semesters go on,” said Jennifer Adams, provost and vice president of academic affairs. “We’re looking to see where the interest is, and I know [the College of] STEM is, in particular, doing a lot with different companies in the Jefferson [County] region.”
Academic Quality and Student Success Committee members also approved a new graduate certificate in artificial intelligence and an accelerated Bachelor of Science in health care administration.
The accelerated program will enable a student to earn the degree in about three years rather than the traditional four, or with 90 rather than 120 credits. If the full trustees board approves it Thursday, it would be the third accelerated bachelor’s degree approved at YSU. All three, however, await approval by the state and the Higher Learning Commission, YSU’s accrediting body.
The others are in communication and psychology.
“We identified communication and psychology but found out that the state of Ohio is requiring at least one accelerated bachelor degree program for each institution that meets an in-demand job,” Adams said.
Neither communication nor psychology met that requirement, but the Bachelor of Science in health care administration does, she said.
Pictured at top: YSU President Bill Johnson.