Penn State Wilkes-Barre was recently recognized by Tuition Heroes, a St. Louis, MO based company, with the designation of Tuition Hero for a 3 Year Compound Annual Growth Rate of 1.6%. The Tuition Hero designation is given to institutions that meet at least one of two criteria: their tuition has a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.5% or less or they have a fixed rate tuition policy option.
Tuition Heroes tracks the last 3 consecutive years of tuition (including required fees) and calculates a CAGR. The CAGR provides the year-over-year growth rate of tuition over a specified period of time and describes the rate at which tuition would have grown if it grew at a steady rate. A fixed rate tuition option provides a predefined tuition rate over a period of time. If the institution has made the logical effort to control costs to students and allow them to foresee future expenses, the institution will be granted the Tuition Hero designation, even if their tuition CAGR is more than 2.5%.
Tuition Heroes data is received from The College Affordability and Transparency Center, a division of the U.S. Department of Education. The College Affordability and Transparency Center includes information for students, parents, and policymakers about college costs at America's colleges and universities. The Center includes several lists of institutions based on the tuition and fees and net prices (the price of attendance after considering all grant and scholarship aid) charged to students. These lists meet requirements outlined in the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) and are be updated annually.