As Temple projects its first enrollment increase since 2017, board approves tuition hike

Temple University is projecting its first overall enrollment increase since 2017, largely fueled by another big boost in its incoming freshman class, university officials said Tuesday.

That could signal a continued enrollment turnaround for the partially public university based in North Philadelphia, which has lost about 10,000 students from its enrollment high in 2017 of more than 40,000.

The projected increase this year likely will only amount to a couple of hundred students. But after years of losses — some years in the thousands — it stands as a potential bright spot as the higher education industry faces demands and funding cuts from the federal government and challenging demographic changes.

Deposits from first-year students as of July 1 hit a record high, up 10% from last year, Temple president John A. Fry said.

“We still have a long way to go, but this is a great step in the right direction toward building back the university’s overall enrollment,” Fry said.

Whether that will carry through as a trend among local universities this fall remains to be seen. Daniel J. Allen, president of La Salle University, another local school that has struggled with enrollment, said in a message to the campus last week that fall 2025 enrollment numbers “are greatly exceeding our projections.” And because of strong enrollment growth projected at Gwynedd Mercy University, the school is looking into expanded housing options, including local hotels, a spokesperson said.

At Temple, the news came as the board of trustees approved a 2025-26 budget with an average 3.6% tuition hike for both in-state and out-of-state students and both undergraduates and graduate students. That is lower than last year, when the average increase was 4.2%.

» READ MORE: Temple to raise tuition 4.2% for 2024-25, the same amount as the previous year

Temple has been taking steps to cope with a $19 million structural deficit in 2024-25 and a $60 million deficit that had been projected for the 2026 year. The university announced last month that it would be eliminating some jobs, largely through resignations, retirements, and attrition, but that some layoffs would be necessary.

The budget approved by the board includes a total of $37 million in reductions — $33 million of them through retirements, resignations, and the elimination of vacant positions. Temple officials did not say on Tuesday how many layoffs would occur, but said they likely would happen early in the first quarter of this fiscal year, so by Sept. 30. The remaining $4 million is a reduction in the merit increase pool for nonunion employees.

Fry told trustees the projected deficit has been “materially reduced, though not closed.”

A large decline in enrollment has stressed the university’s finances over the last several years. Since 2017, enrollment has fallen by about 10,000 students, to last year’s low of just over 30,000.

» READ MORE: Temple plans to cut positions, faces $60 million deficit next year

But for the first time in eight years, Temple is projecting to go in the other direction, thanks in part to another double-digit percentage increase in the freshman class, said David Marino, interim senior vice president and chief operating officer. The university is anticipating an enrollment of about 30,200, a couple of hundred over last year. That includes 6,450 first-year students and transfers, up 722 from last year. And, notably, last year’s number included 350 new students from the University of the Arts, which abruptly closed in June 2024.

The jump would have led to an even larger overall enrollment increase, except that last year’s graduating class was large, Marino explained.

With smaller graduating classes projected for the next two years, the increases in enrollment should be even more pronounced for fall 2026 and fall 2027 if things keep pace, he said.

“This year we are tilting the curve up,” he said. “Next year you will see a nice increase in that curve.”

The tuition increase percentage fluctuates across Temple’s schools and majors. In-state undergraduate students in education, liberal arts, and social work, for instance, will pay $19,608 in tuition annually, up 3.9% or $744 over 2024-25. Out-of-state students in those areas will pay $35,232, also up 3.9% or $1,320.

» READ MORE: Graduation rates, cost, and more could soon determine state funding increases for PSU, Temple, and Pitt

Other colleges will have varying tuition increases, none higher than 3.9%, but others as low as 2.9%, Marino said. That is because additional tuition charges that some other schools and colleges within Temple assess were held flat.

Mandatory fees for 2025-26 will be $1,056, up $40 or 3.9%.

Room rates are rising an average of 4% and meals 3.6%, Marino said. In a traditional dorm, with a plan of 12 meals per week, room and board will run $14,530, up from $14,010 in 2024-25.

The university plans to expand its undergraduate financial aid budget by $35.3 million, or 24%, to $183.8 million, marking the second consecutive year of such a large increase aimed at bringing more new students into the university and building back enrollment, Marino said.

While Gov. Josh Shapiro has proposed an increase in funding for the four state-related universities, including Temple, that is far from certain to happen with the budget process ongoing. As a precaution, the university has projected another year of flat funding in the budget approved by the board, Marino said. Temple has received $158.2 million annually from the state since 2020.

The budget also anticipates less funding from the National Institutes of Health, which has been the target of federal cuts by President Donald Trump’s administration.