A possible tuition increase looms over the heads of Shippensburg University students who take more than 12 credits, but SU students are not alone — four other Pennsylvania universities are facing a similar future: Bloomsburg University (BU), Clarion University (CU), Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) and Millersville University (MU).

Each new tuition program is slightly different, but the common factor is that undergraduate students attending these universities will be paying tuition per credit, instead of paying a flat rate like they have in the past.

MU students started paying per credit in the fall of 2014. The BU, CU and IUP programs have been approved, but not yet implemented.

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) Board of Governors approved per credit pilot programs for each of these four schools.

At MU, undergraduate Pennsylvania resident students are paying $264 per credit, according to the MU student newspaper, The Snapper.

The decision was made at the Board of Governors’ July 8, 2014, meeting. Students received emails and letters in mid-July telling them of the rapid change.

“Based off of undergraduate enrollment as of Sept. 2, there has been a -3.6 percent decrease in students taking more than 12 credits and a 1.7 percent increase in students taking 12 credits or less,” The Snapper reported.

The average student at MU takes 14.52 credits as of fall 2014, whereas the average SU student takes 14.2 credits per semester.

To help offset the cost, financial aid was increased to $1.1 million at MU. SU plans to add $1.5 million in institutional grant aid if the pilot program is passed.

MU held an open budget forum last semester to discuss the changes being made. At the forum it was announced that “student tuition will be rolled back from the 2013/14 PASSHE rate over the years of the program, reduction being recouped over the four years,” The Snapper reported.

Following in its footsteps from July, the Board of Governors approved per credit programs for IUP and BU on Jan. 22. The programs will be implemented in the fall of 2015, which is what will happen to SU if its per credit program is approved in April.

At IUP, the per credit price will be $284, according to the IUP student newspaper, The Penn. The $284 is not a set price, however, and is able to change. A 7 percent discount will be given to all students the first year of the program’s implementation, bringing the cost close to $264. The second year there will be a discount of 4 percent, then a discount of 1 percent in the program’s third year.

Students taking 12 credits or less will be saving money under the new program. A student taking 15 credits each semester will be paying about $7,920 for the year — up 16 percent from the current cost, The Penn reported. These numbers apply to the 2015-16 academic year.

In 2019-20, The Penn predicts that students taking 15 credits each semester will be paying around 25 percent more at $8,520 for the year.

IUP created a program to help lower the costs for some students. The Academic Success Initiative is expected to give students with a 3.0 GPA the coverage for one credit. Students with a 3.5 GPA can qualify for the cost of two credits. Financial need-based grants will also be put into place at IUP.

The program at IUP has a three-year phase-in, but the true cost will not come into full effect until the 2019-20 school year.

BU’s two-year pilot program will cost Pennsylvania resident students $284 per credit, according to the BU student newspaper, The Voice. Out-of-state students will be paying $568 per credit come next fall.

Pennsylvania residents taking 15 credits will be paying $748 more per semester at BU, while non-residents will be paying $1,965 less, The Voice reported.

BU plans to provide $3 million for tuition grants to help balance out the additional cost for some students.

A per credit tuition program was approved for Clarion University at the Board of Governors’ April 2014 meeting, according to passhe.edu. The per credit program will go into effect the fall of 2015.

CU’s program is under a two-year pilot through the summer of 2017. In April, it was proposed that the per credit rate for CU undergraduate students be set at a lower price than the PASSHE rate of $276 per credit.

Students may drop out from these universities or take fewer credits each semester, but the predicted revenue increase is expected to offset any negative effects of the per credit program.

The pilot programs at each university are to be monitored for effectiveness during the years of implementation. Factors such as enrollment and revenue will be important in determining the effectiveness of the per credit tuition programs.

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