I saw on the tuition page that the tuition for the 2014-15 year was $17,500 per year in state. The Schreyer’s Honors College website says tuition for the honors college is the same as UP but it has 2015-16 numbers and it says $16,750. Especially with PA’s state college funding always going down, I’m surprised that not only did they not raise the price, but they lowered it.
It definitely didn’t go down. They held in-state tuition constant from last year to this year, but as far as I know there was no decrease. The higher “Tuition and Fees” number might be including some additional fees.
What they charged me from last year, before financial aid:
Fall '14 tuition, fees, meals, housing: $13,636
Spring '15 tuition, fees, meals, housing: $13,336
Tuition only, 2014-15: $16,572
And I recall either posting a thread or commenting on one about how they maintained the same in-state tuition this year. My guess about the $17k number would be extra fees included in the calculation.
Penn State never, never goes down. It will usually go up anywhere between 3-9% depending on how generous Harrisburg is. You need to take this into consideration from year to year. Housing wont go up this much but will increase also. Good luck.