A top-quality education with great results

At Bloomsburg University, we pride ourselves on providing a top-quality education at a very affordable price, in spite of a budget impacted annually by decreasing state government funding. This coming year will be no different. The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Board of Governors established a budget which calls for a 4.5 percent increase in tuition for the 2010-11 academic year. The increase equates to $250 more a year for a full-time, in-state student.

BU and our 13 sister universities are not alone in facing tough economic challenges. Penn State University recently increased tuition 5.9 percent, or roughly $810, and other universities in the state and our region are doing the same. PASSHE has kept cost increases to a minimum. Overall, tuition increases at the state system universities have not risen above the rate of inflation in four of the last five years, keeping our tuition much more affordable than most private universities. At the current rate, four years of tuition at BU for a full-time, in-state student is less than $23,300.

And for that affordable price, BU is producing tremendous results. Nearly 86 percent of our Class of 2009 graduates are permanently employed or continuing their education. And our current students are proving to be great young leaders before they hit the job market.

Just this summer we have seen students apply their classroom education across the world to make an impact in many areas of society. An education student spent a month in Zambia, Africa, studying the effects of education on at-risk youth. A planetary science student assisted the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum with lunar research. A language student spent six weeks in Xalapa, Mexico, researching how professors at Bloomsburg University and Universidad Veracruzana assess language learning and multiple learning styles. A management student recently won a highly competitive scholarship, allowing him to serve as a student assistant this fall at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals’ annual Global Conference in San Diego, Calif. And these are just a sample of the co-curricular activities our students engaged in this summer.

Our year-round academic excellence is comprehensive across campus and in all educational disciplines. The quality of our academic programs, faculty and staff is responsible for the highest enrollment numbers we have ever seen, including another expected record number of freshmen arriving this fall. We are proud to provide our students with an excellent education that prepares them for personal and professional success in an increasingly complex global environment at a cost that does not leave them with excessive debt.