YOUNGSTOWN — In about a week, Youngstown State University officials may know how much, if anything, tuition rates will increase for certain students.

“The top number is 3%,” Charles T. George, the YSU Board of Trustees’ chairman, said after the board’s regular quarterly meeting Tuesday morning in Tod Hall.

“We’re in a waiting pattern. It’s subject to the final passage of House Bill 96,” Rebecca Rose, YSU spokeswoman, said, referring to Ohio’s proposed biennial budget bill, which must be on Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk by Monday.

The Senate version of the bill appropriates $1.25 million for the university’s Excellence Training Center, which opened four years ago and offers workforce training for advanced manufacturing.

Regardless of any tuition increases, however, students in YSU’s Penguin Tuition Promise program will be locked in for four years.

The program assures those students and their families a fixed tuition rate for them to pursue undergraduate degrees. A student’s tuition is based on first enrollment and remains the same for four consecutive academic years, George noted.

According to the university’s website, undergraduates in the program who are Ohio residents pursuing bachelor’s degrees pay $5,522 per semester while nonresidents pay $5,702. Residents and nonresidents pursuing associate degrees pay $3,180 and $3,360, respectively. Any proposed changes for fiscal year 2026 have yet to be determined, the website shows.

Master’s degree-level graduate students who are Ohio residents are paying $6,780 per semester and nonresidents $6,960. Proposed changes for FY26 would mean increases of 3%, or $6,983 per semester, for residents and 2.92%, or $7,163 per semester, for nonresidents, according to the website.

During a board committee meeting Monday, YSU President Bill Johnson cited several reasons such an increase may be necessary, including added costs associated with inflation, along with higher expenses for health care, supplies and other needs.

Regardless of any increase, YSU’s tuition rate remains one of the lowest in the state, George said.

In other business, Johnson presented an optimistic report on numerous aspects of YSU life, saying that work on the three-phase Kilcawley Center renovation project is moving forward and that, despite continued decreases in population and a smaller pool of prospective students, the university has “cast a wider net,” in recruitment efforts, which contributed to an 11% increase in the number of students last fall, including those who transferred.

In addition, YSU is continuing to cultivate partnerships with business, labor, industry and schools in the region, Johnson said.

HERITAGE AWARD

Also at the session, trustees bestowed the Heritage Award upon Charles R. Singler, a former professor and chairman in YSU’s Department of Physics, Astronomy, Geology and Environmental Science, and Barbara C. Orton, former director of the university’s Equal Opportunity and Diversity office. Singler served the university from 1969 to 2011, and Orton from 1984 to 2003.

Singler’s long career also included assistant dean of the College of Arts and Sciences as well as interim assistant provost. During his 42 years at YSU, he also chaired a variety of committees and was vice president of the Academic Senate.

In addition, Singler helped conduct research on the presence of radon in residences and schools in more than 20 northeast Ohio counties.

“I’ve never lost the urge to learn more,” said Singler, who earned a bachelor’s degree from City College of New York in New York City before earning his master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, then teaching chemistry and physics at John F. Kennedy College in Wahoo, Nebraska.

For her part, Orton, of Silver Spring, Maryland, had a long career focused on advancing equal opportunity and affirmative action. She began her work in 1967 with the Fair Employment Practice Committee in Youngstown before moving to Washington, D.C., where she worked for the Smithsonian Institution.

While at YSU, Orton also served two terms on the Western Reserve Transit Authority board, as well as on the board of WYSU-FM. During her time on the WRTA board, Orton was instrumental in establishing the Penguin Shuttle.

“It’s really an honor,” Orton said about having received the award. “I felt I could make a difference there, and to be honored is outstanding.”

The Heritage Award was established in 1981 for former faculty and staff members who have made significant contributions during their tenure, and it is one of the university’s highest honors.