<p>The award most likely was the one-time provost’s award. This was given out in a very unpredictable way. Some with lesser stats got more than those with stronger (based on CC chatter). They probably selected using some admissions criteria. I think one common attribute was applying early. The awards were 6,000 a year for either two or four years.
They said it was one time. I guess there is a small chance they could repeat. Last year they were given out in November. The chance of repeating is low as the state once again did not increase the amount they gave to PSU. The sad thing is PSU considers flat funding a victory. Coupled with a tuition increase that does not match costs of running a university, I don’t see where the money is coming from. Often people compare inflation rates to tuition rates. Not a fair comparison because universities are a service-based industry, where there is a much greater weight on salaries/benefits- insurance is the biggie. Inflation rates that are published is more balanced or even weighted more on durable goods. Before you attribute the increase to salaries (versus insurance) you should know that PSU employees have had 1 raise over the previous three years (except for unions, of course). This year, they will be given a ~2% raise starting Oct 1. The start of the FY is July1. So, employees are getting 9/12 x 2% or 1.5%. I understand, university employees aren’t the only ones out there getting small raises, but the misconception that salary increases are to blame are not true</p>