Temple University announced on Thursday they will not increase tuition on undergraduate students next year.
"Rising student debt is one of the major issues facing this nation today," Board of Trustees Chairman Patrick J. O'Connor said Thursday, adding, "This is going to be an all-out effort. We are going to ask everyone who cares about the university to step up and take action. We need them to invest in our students."
Temple is not the first public university to announce a freeze on tuition this year. The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Maine said they won't increase in-state tuition in fall 2012; the same goes for all of the public colleges in Arizona.
While the Great Recession has resulted in deep cuts for higher ed, followed by extensive tuition hikes, 2012 appears to be the year that trend puttered out. Many public colleges around the country are avoiding big tuition hikes, and many of the hikes fall below 6 percent. While that is still higher than inflation as determined by either the higher education price index or the consumer price index, it's lower than what hikes in recent years.
Check out which colleges are deciding against tuition increases this year for in-state students:
Who Is Freezing Tuition In 2012?
Language has been added to clarify the tuition freezes discussed in this article apply to in-state students. Arizona State University, for example, will not increase tuition and fees for in-state students, but will increase them by 3 percent for out-of-state students.