Robert Morris University is expanding its Public Price Match Plus scholarship program to include West Virginia University and Kent State University in Ohio. Qualified students are guaranteed to pay less to attend RMU, a private university, than either WVU or Kent State, which are public institutions. RMU launched the program one year ago with the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State. 

Here’s how it works: 

• For students who are accepted to RMU and also admitted to the main campuses of WVU or Kent State, Robert Morris will guarantee to match the student’s cost of attendance with the average cost of attendance at WVU and Kent State. RMU also will award those students an additional annual scholarship of $3,000, which means they will pay less than they would to attend either WVU or Kent State.
• For students who are accepted to RMU and also admitted to the main campus of the University of Pittsburgh or Penn State, Robert Morris will guarantee to match the student’s cost of attendance with the average cost of attendance at Pitt and Penn State – and award the additional $3,000 scholarship to ensure students pay less at RMU. 

“We believe that students should be able to choose the university that is the best fit for them without cost getting in the way,” said Wendy Beckemeyer, vice president for enrollment management at RMU. “Families shouldn’t assume that a public institution will cost less than Robert Morris.”

Cost of attendance, sometimes called a college’s “sticker price,” includes tuition, fees, room, board, books, and other expenses a family might accrue while a student is enrolled in college, including transportation and personal expenses. 

Currently, the average cost of attendance for Pitt and Penn State main campuses is $35,276. With the Public Price Match Plus scholarship, qualified students at RMU would pay no more than $32,271. 

The average cost of attendance at the main campuses of WVU and Kent State is $38,050, so qualified students at RMU would pay no more than $35,050. 

All students who qualify for the Public Price Match Plus scholarship would also continue to be eligible for federal, state, and other sources of external aid, possibly bringing their costs down even further. RMU also pledges never to decrease the Public Price Match Plus scholarship students receive over four years, but the amount can increase, so the difference between what students pay at RMU versus eligible public institutions may actually exceed $3,000. 

“Public Price Match Plus is one more way that RMU demonstrates that it is big enough to matter, yet small enough to care,” said Beckemeyer.

To be eligible, a student must be a Pennsylvania resident who plans to live at RMU’s campus in Moon Township. They must demonstrate that they have been accepted to Pitt’s main campus in Oakland, Penn State’s main campus in University Park, WVU’s main campus in Morgantown, or Kent State’s main campus in Kent, Ohio. The program is not open to transfer students at this time.

For more information, go to rmu.edu/pricematch, email pricematch@rmu.edu, or call 412-397-COST (2678).