College costs have been on a mostly upward trend for the last two decades. High tuition prices, housing, food, transportation, books and other school-related fees can add thousands of dollars to college expenses.

According to U.S. News, In-state tuition and fees at public national universities have grown the most, increasing by over 210%.

Although tuition has increased across the country, Harrisburg University has managed to keep their tuition the same for the past decade.

Eric Darr, Harrisburg University’s President, said the way his university did this is by keeping a goal of student accessibility in mind.

"Universities can have lots of other goals but if your goal is to make your education as accessible as possible, then you'll do things and you'll priorities things and activities to keep costs constrained," Darr said.

He said property management, health care providers, brokers, and fundraises help to make consistent tuition rates possible for the university as well.

Darr said he believes one of the reasons students stay at his university is because of the consistent tuition rates. The tuition is $23,000 and he said, a family would pay on average, after  scholarships and grants about $3,000. Last year, the university gave more than $10 million in scholarships.

"What it means to our students is that they have a chance, they have the opportunity to pay for a life changing career that they find fascinating," Darr said. "Am I able to promise that we're not going to ever raise tuition? No, I can't do that. But can I say we're going to work in the next ten years, as hard as we have over the last ten years, to keep education as affordable as possible. Absolutely, yes."

College costs have been on a mostly upward trend for the last two decades. High tuition prices, housing, food, transportation, books and other school-related fees can add thousands of dollars to college expenses.
According to U.S. News, In-state tuition and fees at public national universities have grown the most, increasing by over 210%.
Although tuition has increased across the country, Harrisburg University has managed to keep their tuition the same for the past decade.
Eric Darr, Harrisburg University’s President, said the way his university did this is by keeping a goal of student accessibility in mind.
"Universities can have lots of other goals but if your goal is to make your education as accessible as possible, then you'll do things and you'll priorities things and activities to keep costs constrained," Darr said.
He said property management, health care providers, brokers, and fundraises help to make consistent tuition rates possible for the university as well.
Darr said he believes one of the reasons students stay at his university is because of the consistent tuition rates. The tuition is $23,000 and he said, a family would pay on average, after  scholarships and grants about $3,000. Last year, the university gave more than $10 million in scholarships.
"What it means to our students is that they have a chance, they have the opportunity to pay for a life changing career that they find fascinating," Darr said. "Am I able to promise that we're not going to ever raise tuition? No, I can't do that. But can I say we're going to work in the next ten years, as hard as we have over the last ten years, to keep education as affordable as possible. Absolutely, yes."

When people come together and talk about really interesting topics, great questions spark better understanding and opportunities for new ideas to form. On The Spark from WITF, hosts Scott LaMar and Aniya Faulcon start the conversations about what’s happening in the world and at home. Share your ideas at https://witf.org/programs/the-spark.

When people come together and talk about really interesting topics, great questions spark better understanding and opportunities for new ideas to form. On The Spark from <a href="https://www.witf.org">WITF</a>, hosts Scott LaMar and Aniya Faulcon start the conversations about what’s happening in the world and at home. Share your ideas at <a href="https://witf.org/programs/the-spark">https://witf.org/programs/the-spark</a>.

The Spark

When people come together and talk about really interesting topics, great questions spark better understanding and opportunities for new ideas to form. On The Spark from WITF, hosts Scott LaMar and Aniya Faulcon start the conversations about what’s happening in the world and at home. Share your ideas at <a href="https://witf.org/programs/the-spark">https://witf.org/programs/the-spark</a>.

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