Slippery Rock University president William Behre said with the continued freeze on tuition at Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education schools, the 2% increase requested by the university’s Board of Trustees earlier this year will not yet take effect.

By the time of the next meeting of the PASSHE Board of Governors, its administrators and chancellor should know if state legislature has provided its requested funding that would help pay for system changes.

Behre said the SRU Board of Trustees will wait for PASSHE’s move on funding before implementing a tuition increase.

“The idea is that if funding comes through we don't need a tuition increase,” Behre said. “My hope is the legislature will approve funding increase to PASSHE and SRU’s portion will be enough that we won’t need the tuition increase.”

The PASSHE board six months ago sought $550 million in state funding next year, an increase of about 15%, along with $201 million in student aid and about $75 million in federal funds to help pay for system changes, including the consolidation of six universities in the system into two.

“The state’s decision about our budget this year is existential for the state system,” Chancellor Daniel Greenstein said this week, ahead of the expected vote. “It will determine the future of higher education in the state.”

Greenstein has been overseeing reforms to the sprawling system that currently enrolls nearly 90,000 students.

Behre said PASSHE administration is in the midst of revising its funding formula to adjust for consolidation of the universities. While SRU was not directly impacted by the consolidation, Behre said the university could benefit from a funding increase should state legislator approve its requested funds.

He said the state funding could be integral to every school within the PASSHE system, including SRU.

“Appropriation comes to the system. The system then has to do the formula to distribute it to the schools,” Behre said. “It is actually appropriate because with that level of funding, the state will have made a substantial commitment to the system.”

Associated Press contributed to this report.