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Auditor General Slams Penn State For High Tuition, Admission Bias Against Pennsylvanians

HARRISBURG (KDKA) -- Penn State University is under sharp criticism after a recent audit uncovered some major issues.

State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale slammed Penn State University, claiming his audit found unreasonable tuition increases and discrimination against in-state students for admission.

"When I looked at tuition affordability over the last 30 years, Penn State's in-state tuition at $19,347 for the 2016-17 academic year has increased by a whopping 535 percent."

While Penn State's tuition jumped over 500 percent, the incomes of Pennsylvanians increased at less than a third of that.

Penn State's hikes also outstripped other price increases as well.

"The price of a gallon of milk increased 48 percent; a new car, on average, increased 163 percent; the median income of Pennsylvanians increased 164 percent; a gallon of gas increased 165 percent," recited DePasquale. "None of these come even remotely close to keeping pace with the tuition increases at Penn State."

The auditor general also said Penn State favored out-of-state students over in-state students because out-of-staters pay more for tuition.

"In 1990-91 at the university campus, Pennsylvania residents comprised 76.5 percent of the campus population. By 2015-16, it was just 56.2 percent."

In fact, he found it was easier for out-of-state students to get admitted.

"Penn State's expansion of non-resident enrollment threatens accessibility to Pennsylvania residents," said DePasquale.

In another finding, DePasquale said Penn State failed to do proper checks of those who came in contact with children.

"One of the most distressing findings in this audit is that years after Jerry Sandusky's conviction for sexually assaulting young boys, Penn State fails to assure 100 percent of mandated background checks are completed by the university."

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