In its continued focus to prioritize meeting the needs of students, Indiana University of Pennsylvania will reduce the cost of tuition for international undergraduates taking between 12 to 18 credits a semester, effective for the fall 2023 semester.

Under this new model, international undergraduate students taking 12 to 18 credits per semester will pay a flat rate of $9,576 per semester. This is an annual savings of $4,788, or 20 percent, for international undergraduate students who take 15 credits per semester. International undergraduate students who take 18 credits per semester will save even more: $9,576 per year.

This reduction does not apply to those students participating in a partnership agreement.

This action, approved March 10 by IUP President Michael Driscoll following a recommendation from the IUP Tuition Model and Pricing workgroup, was discussed during the March 23 meeting of the IUP Council of Trustees.

President Driscoll’s approval of this action also follows review and discussion with the University Budget Advisory Committee, Office of International Education, and the president’s cabinet.

This reduction is consistent with IUP’s Tuition Affordability Plan initiative, an almost 20 percent reduction in tuition for both in-state undergraduate students and out-of-state, domestic undergraduate students who are taking 15 credits per semester.

The reduction for in-state undergraduate students went into effect in fall 2022, approved by the IUP Council of Trustees in February 2022, and by the Pennsylvania State System Board of Governors in March 2022.

The reduction for out-of-state, domestic undergraduates was approved by the Council of Trustees in December 2022 and also takes effect in fall 2023.

Students taking 15 credits per semester are positioned to complete their studies in four years.

“This is part of IUP’s commitment to being a truly student-centered university and demonstrates our commitment to welcoming international students as full members of the IUP family,” Driscoll said.

“This reduction of tuition for our international undergraduates helps to simplify understanding costs for our students and their families,” President Driscoll said. “It also encourages credit loads that can help students to graduate faster and reduce the student debt that accompanies longer time to graduation.”

“Our international student enrollment has dipped in recent years for several reasons, some of which we cannot control, but we hope making it more affordable for international students will help them attend IUP to pursue their life goals, enriching the experience for all our students at the same time,” he said.

In fall 2022, IUP enrolled a total of 109 international undergraduate students, with half of that number qualifying for the fall 2023 tuition reduction (not in partnership agreements).

In fall 2022, IUP welcomed a total of 403 students from 64 countries—up from 52 countries represented in fall 2021. The percentage of international students enrolled in graduate programs is at its highest point since fall 2019, and enrollment in the American Language Institute is up by 126 percent, with a total of 43 students. IUP remains the leader among other State System universities in total international student enrollment (undergraduate and graduate).

In addition to the reductions made through the Tuition Affordability Plan, IUP has frozen tuition, fees, and meal costs for the last four years, and housing costs have remained steady since 2016. More than $2 million in housing scholarships have been given each year to students since fall 2021, and this $1,000 housing scholarship for new and continuing students who live in university residence halls will continue for fall 2023.

In 2022–23, IUP students were awarded more than $16.4 million in scholarships from the university in addition to state and federal aid, and approximately 93 percent of fall 2022 first-year students were offered renewable merit scholarships, with an average award of $3,800.

In his remarks during today’s Council of Trustees meeting, Driscoll noted that the Tuition Affordability Plan has already made a positive impact on applications for fall 2023.

For fall 2022, new student undergraduate enrollment at IUP was up by more than 4 percent, and the number of students in career preparation programs increased by 14 percent, the largest number of students in these programs since 2019.