This represents the first time in 49 years that tuition has been held steady for undergraduate students from one year to the next.
I wish it happened for out of state students
Very happy (parent) to read about the freeze!
@NASA2014 - I agree. I’m in state, but I think the freeze should have been for ALL PSU students. Aren’t we all in this together?
Yup, I can’t wait to visit next week. I’m super excited about visiting my dream college. Going to apply as a transfer student this coming September. What major are you in? Meteorology is what I’m studying.
Just read that you’re a parent. Did you go to penn state?
I may be in the minority here, but I think in state students should get a freeze before OOS students get one. In state families pay PA taxes which partially fund the university. We’ve paid PA taxes for decades and will pay for decades longer. I wish, in a perfect world, that ALL students could get a tuition freeze or reduction, but given that it’s not a perfect world, I think starting with the in state students is a fair move. My husband and I are both graduates of PSU and our D is there now.
I don’t disagree with @jlhpsu that tax-paying citizens of PA should be cut a break with tuition and benefit from a tuition freeze. BUT (yes, I’m an out of state parent), the gap is already pretty large between OOS and in-state. Plus, and I don’t mean this in any negative way about in-state Penn Staters, the OOS popularity of PSU, the OOS infusion of $$ into PA’s ecoomy, and the OOS impact on PSU’s global reputation shouldn’t be ignored. OOS students/parents have higher travel/hotel costs, we invest a very large amount into the PA tax base and we’re nice people too. Well, some of us. Without OOS students, in-state would pay more for the same education (or the quality of the education, etc. would have to go down). All that said, PSU knows it can charge more for OOS so it does. So I’ll pay the extra 3% this year and brace myself for similar increases in future years. And be thankful that the fine residents of PA allow us (and our $$) to benefit from its fine institution. 
It is well documented that PA has the highest in state tuition rates in the country. The OOS tuition is fairly much in line with most large state schools. When I was researching schools with my son, in state tuition seemed to be $10k most places and OOS $30k. The OOS is in line…the in state is not. What is in state and OOS rates at Rutgers?
Umich is the most expensive school for OOS.
Just a quick search on college board and PSU in state is 17k vs. 30 for OOS. Rutgers in state is 13k vs. 28k for OOS. U Mich is 13k for in state and 44k for OOS (!!).
I’m certainly not denigrating OOS students. I think they are vital to a dynamic and diverse student population. I agree they add tremendously to the economy of State College specifically. But I wonder how many stay in PA after graduating? That’s an actual question - not being snarky. As with ALL schools, there is a benefit from being in state vs. OOS as far as tuition goes. I also think Penn State hopefully recognizes that being in the top 2 of most expensive public universities in the country is not a good place to be. Only the University of Pittsburgh is higher for in state students.
^And both are outrageously expensive for low to modest income families, whether in or out of state, unless the student has very high stats and receives one of Pitt’s large merit scholarships to add to Pell and/or state grants.
@jlhpsu and @brucemag I certainly agree with the importance of having a geographically diverse student body. I was simply pointing out that; relatively speaking, the current OOS rate at PSU is more aligned with the “going rate” than the in-state rate. With that being said, with the merit money my son received, he could have attended 4 OOS schools (including Ohio State) for less than what it is costing for in-state to PSU. I don’t any (or at least many) are seeing any merit money at PSU.
We are all still sending our kids there; so it must not be hurting them too bad, but I personally think it will in the somewhat near future. As rankings change and some of these other schools invest heavily in infrastructure and continue to award merit dollars. I guess time will tell.
I enjoy both of your comments on here…keep them coming.
Just got slammed with this semester’s bill…apparently tuition freeze means nothing when you have AP credits. They’re calling me a junior and charging me for junior level classes that I won’t be taking until next year. <:-P
Visited penn state today 
speechless.
Was it everything you dreamed of, @NASA2014? I hope you got to meet with an advisor like you wanted.
Yes, It was like a dream. It felt like I was a student there. I love their Meteorology department. The advisor was so kind and made me feel welcomed. The old Engineering building is huge. I was like “WOW”
thinking about applying fall of 2017 or 2018. Got to get the math requirements and Gen eds first.
@NASA2014: I’ll be a freshman in Meteorology starting this fall, I had a similar reaction when I stayed at PSU for the first time last summer. There’s a reason it’s the number one Meteorology program in the U.S. Good luck, maybe I’ll see you around in the future.
@metsfanAJM The campus was a bit like UCLA, but loved Penn state even more. Let me know how was your experience. Do you have a favorite option? I’m likely going for Atmospheric Sciences
@bodangles Once you reach 59.1 credits the cost of tuition goes up per credit.
@PERplexD Yeah, I know that now. 
Pretty dumb that I’ll be paying for 6 semesters of those 4-semester “upper level classes” though. I asked my HS friend and he said he hit that limit LAST semester. After ONE semester PSU considered him a junior. He’s paying for 7 semesters of that higher rate instead of 4.
And we’re in engineering, hopefully with a minor each, so we don’t have much of a chance of graduating early.