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Penn tuition will increase by 3.9 percent for 2017-18 academic year







The University Board of Trustees voted to increase total undergraduate costs by 3.9 percent, while also increasing the financial aid budget by 4.7 percent for the 2017-2018 academic year at the Budget and Finance meeting on Thursday.

Tuition will increase from $45,556 to $47,426; while room-and-board and fees will collectively increase 3.6 percent from $20,444 to $21,184.

This brings the total cost of attendance to $68,610, up from $66,000.

The $224 million financial-aid budget increased from last year's budget of $214 million.

Penn President Amy Gutmann said that as a “tuition-driven university,” Penn can only keep its cost so low before having to shut down some of the educational operations of the university.

Although the University will make $24.5 million in incremental revenue from this tuition increase, tuition and fees only cover 70 percent of the cost of instruction. The rest is covered by gifts and endowments.

In addition to increased tuition, the board of trustees voted also approved renovations to Steinberg-Dietrich Hall, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, the Evans Building, the Schattner Center and the Richards Building.

UA representative and College senior Eric Tepper spoke, saying that if tuition increases as steadily as it has been, in 11 years, it will cost over $100,000 to attend Penn.

“Where will the red line be?” he asked.

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