New Student Fees May Help Pay for Play at Penn State

Students have faced rising costs of tuition and pricey textbooks. Now Penn State may charge students a $200 annual fee to pay for improvements to university facilities, according to an article in the Centre Daily Times.

Penn State spokeswoman Lisa Powers said the new fee would raise $8.2-million in annual revenue for “non-academic facility improvements such as fitness and other recreational space, eateries and student office and meeting areas.”

Survey results from student focus groups at Penn State’s main campus, University Park, along with surveys at the university’s satellite campuses suggested recreational space is at a minimum at an institution where intramural sports have more than 300 teams on waiting lists for field time.

The Centre Daily Times reports that Penn State is ranked at the bottom of other Big Ten schools in fees; however, undergraduate tuition is more than double the national average for state colleges. —Nicholas DiMarco