Making a Bold Promise

In 2025, IUP will celebrate its 150th anniversary, allowing us to look back at our legacy as a destination for students who seek a life-changing educational journey. The sesquicentennial will also allow us to look ahead at the IUP of the future.

Planning and looking ahead have given us the foresight to focus on three key areas in the coming years: strengthening IUP excellence, student success, and rural health. In simple terms, we’re going to focus on the impacts we make on our students, and the impact we can make on the communities around us.

IUP serves more than its students. We know we are a valuable part of our county and state communities, and the people who surround and support us also rely on us. In Pennsylvania, particularly in Indiana County, health in our rural areas is a growing challenge that we can help address.

With more than 30 percent of our undergraduate students majoring in STEM or health fields, we are well-positioned to take a bold step in the next few years as we explore the possible creation of a school of osteopathic medicine, which would be the first of its kind at a public university in Pennsylvania.

Inflation was in the headlines throughout 2022, and at IUP we are proud that we have continued to offer affordable excellence by reducing undergraduate tuition by nearly 20 percent. We also kept the cost of on-campus housing the same for the sixth year in a row, and our basic fees and meal costs have stayed the same since 2018. This shows how IUP is committed to students everywhere who seek an education that will set them up for a rewarding future.

AFFORDABLE EXCELLENCE: 20% Reducing Tuition for All Undergraduate Students

We know that the cost of attendance is the top reason students give for not pursuing a college education, so we continue to address this issue. In March 2022, we lowered tuition by nearly 20 percent for in-state, undergraduate students taking at least 15 credits per semester. Later in the year, we made a commitment to full-time, domestic, out-of-state undergraduates as well by reducing their tuition by nearly 20 percent.

A BOLD STEP: Exploring the Creation of a Medical School

At the December 8, 2022, IUP Council of Trustees meeting, a resolution was endorsed for the university “to explore the possible creation of a school of osteopathic medicine.” This is a huge undertaking, but one we are confident we are equipped to handle. At a time when rural healthcare is a concern in Pennsylvania, more than 30 percent of our students are enrolled in STEM or healthcare programs, giving us a solid foundation to help the communities around us as well as to infuse the healthcare job market with trained and skilled nurses, doctors, and other healthcare workers.