YSU Board of Trustees approve 2022 fiscal year budget

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University Board of Trustees this week approved a $172.6 million fiscal year 2022 operating budget.

The 2021-2022 budget includes a tuition increase of less than 1 percent annually over four years for the incoming class of freshmen students in the Penguin Promise, a program that guarantees tuition will not increase for students during their four years in school.

"Keeping student costs as low as possible has always been a priority here at YSU," said Neal McNally, YSU vice president for Finance and Operations. "This budget allows us to maintain a tuition that ranks among the lowest in the state."

The tuition for undergraduate YSU students increases from about $4,206 to about $4,291 per semester. Tuition for Penguin Promise students will be about $4,976 per semester.

Due mostly to declining regional demographics and lingering uncertainty related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the budget projects a 5 percent decrease in enrollment, resulting in an estimated $5.3 million decline in tuition revenue.

To balance the budget, the plan calls for a $1 million transfer from the university's reserves and the use of one-time federal COVID-19 relief funding.

This story was originally published June 4, 2021 at 2:15 PM with the headline "YSU Board of Trustees approve 2022 fiscal year budget."