University of Pittsburgh Approves 2020 Operating and Capital Budgets

PITTSBURGH—The Executive and Budget Committees of the University of Pittsburgh’s Board of Trustees have approved operating and capital budgets for the 2019-2020 academic year. These budgets follow the completion of the commonwealth’s appropriation to the University — which includes a 2% increase in support for Pitt — and enable the University to make pivotal investments in student success, research innovation and academic excellence, while continuing its dynamic rise as a world leader in leveraging knowledge for society’s gain.

The approved operating budget for fiscal year 2020 — set at $2.4 billion — includes more than $12 million in cost savings and a record-setting projected research base of $874 million in external support. One of the largest University expenditures — an estimated $130 million investment in supporting students with financial need — involved the most significant restructuring of student financial aid in the University’s history. This investment includes the Pitt Success Pell Match Program, a novel access and affordability program that matches students’ federal Pell Grant support dollar-for-dollar in an effort to reduce the financial roadblocks to a world-class Pitt education.

The operating budget also sets tuition levels for the 2019-2020 academic year. Across all four regional campuses, tuition will increase by 2% for both in-state and out-of-state students. On the Pittsburgh campus, undergraduate tuition will increase by 2.75% for most in-state students and 5% for most out-of-state students. Two exceptions where undergraduate tuition rates will be slightly higher are in the School of Computing and Information and the Swanson School of Engineering.  

To translate these changes into dollars: Pennsylvania residents attending the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences — the largest school at the University — will pay $498 more in undergraduate tuition compared to the prior academic year. Pennsylvania residents at the regional campuses will pay between $218 and $330 more in tuition annually compared to the prior academic year.  

The University’s approved capital budget for fiscal year 2020, set at $641 million, will fuel the first full year of the University’s campus master plan draft. This plan for the Pittsburgh campus aims to enrich the student experience, inspire innovation, renew vital campus infrastructure, forge multidisciplinary partnerships and strengthen community connections. It includes additions long championed by the student body, such as a new fitness and recreation center, as well as strategic renovations, such as improvements to Scaife Hall, home to Pitt’s top-ranked School of Medicine. 

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