Temple’s tuition rises more than 4%, per Philadelphia trend

No matter what school they attend in the Philadelphia region, full-time undergraduate students are likely to see tuition rise for the 2023-24 academic year. The Temple University Board of Trustees on Tuesday afternoon approved a tuition hike of 4.2% and 4.4% for in-state and out-of-state undergrads, respectively.

All universities in the region reviewed by Billy Penn are implementing tuition increases of 3% or more, somewhat unsurprising given the decades-long nationwide trend of college costs on the rise as enrollment declines.

Tuition at the University of Pennsylvania is rising by 4% next year. The percentage is similar to Temple’s, but tuition at Penn is nearing $60K for the 2023-24 academic year, while Temple’s highest tuition is about half that.

Meanwhile, between March 2022 and March 2023, the Consumer-Price Index, often used to signify inflation rates, increased in Philadelphia and other nearby states by 6.9%. The city ranked the highest in short-term inflation among U.S. metros.

Temple is Philly’s only so-called state-related university — a public institution that receives some state funding — and the board vote came amid a chaotic impasse in Harrisburg as legislators attempt to agree on next year’s allocation for Temple and other state-relateds, like Penn State and Pitt.

Appropriations from the state only make up a small part of Temple’s operating budget (around 15% for 2023-24), but university officials made it clear their hopes of keeping tuition flat for this academic year were diminished once the state rejected a request for a 16% funding increase.

Temple expects undergraduate enrollment to decrease by 2.2K students and graduate and professional studies enrollment to decrease by 600. Citing this, Temple is cutting its operating budget — as it has done for the past few years — by $49.6 million, about 4%.

A Temple student’s tuition changes based on what school or college they attend, and whether or not they live in Pennsylvania. On the lower end, in-state students in the College of Public Health’s School of Social Work could pay almost $18K a year in tuition, while an out-of-state student in that same school could pay around $32K. Associated fees, the same across the board for full-time students, are also rising by 4.9%, to $484 per term.

Still, Temple and other state-relateds in the commonwealth have some of the highest in-state tuition and fee rates in the country.

How do tuition and fees at Temple compare with other local universities? Scroll down for an overview, from most expensive to least.

(Note: the information below should be considered an estimate and is subject to change)