After three straight years of flat funding from the state, Penn State is poised to request nearly a 6% increase in its annual state appropriation for the next fiscal year.

The commonwealth’s largest university received a total of $338.9 million in each of the last three years. For the 2022-2023 fiscal year, which starts next July 1, the university will initially request an additional $19.3 million - for a total of $358.2 million.

“The state appropriation is a critical factor, and it influences Penn State’s resident tuition rates,” university President Eric Barron said Friday during a presentation to the board of trustees, which formally approved the request. “It also includes crucial funds that help support Agricultural Research and Extension, medical assistance funding, Penn State Health and the College of Medicine, and the Pennsylvania College of Technology.”

A large part of that appropriation is used to offset the cost of Penn State’s in-state tuition, which remains the highest in the Big Ten among nonprivate institutions. And, as Barron pointed out, Penn State currently receives considerably less than the national average: Each in-state undergraduate student received about $5,429 in funding this academic year - far below the national average of $7,642.

A full breakdown of Penn State’s proposed request:

• General support: $254,201,000 ($12.1 million increase). This primarily helps provide in-state tuition savings and also allows the university to invest in its academic programs.

• Agricultural Research and Extension: $57,708,000 ($2.75 million increase). Tuition doesn’t go toward programs here, so funding is paramount - especially considering the college has a $2.6 million annual deficit, in part because the university said it’s receiving less state funding here now than in 2008. Among the issues this helps with are combating destructive and invasive species, safeguarding Pennsylvania animal agriculture, expanding dairy food processing support, implementing water quality solutions and providing extensive workforce development programs.

• Economic development (special request): $2,350,000 (new funding). This would support economic development activities and the further growth to the Invent Penn State Initiative, which helps people start up and grow a business, and find licensable technologies and investment opportunities.

• Penn State Health and College of Medicine: $15,868,000 ($756,000 increase). This will be used for medical assistance funding, with a portion to be used to support the preparation of medical students for careers in primary care and rural medicine.

• Pennsylvania College of Technology: $28,073,000 ($1.3 million increase). Funds here would be used mostly to support upgrades to laboratory facilities and equipment and expand instructional capacity in high-demand fields, such as the college’s Physician Assistant Studies program.

• Agreeing on what to request for the state appropriation is simply the first step in a long process that will almost certainly see tweaks and adjustments along the way. The university typically submits its request in late September and then works with legislators over the next several months, before the governor releases his budget proposal in early February.

• Appropriation hearings will be held in February and March, and discussions will continue until the state budget is approved by late June. A month later, Penn State will then formally adopt its operating budget and tuition-and-fees schedule.

“The university’s land-grant partnership with the commonwealth is invaluable, and increased state support for the next fiscal year would further our commitment to keeping a Penn State education within financial reach for all Pennsylvanians, regardless of background or means,” Barron added in a Thursday news release.

In 2009, Penn State received a state appropriation of $364.4 million. That total then nose-dived in 2012 at $267.5 million before slowly rebounding to the current numbers, which remain below what the university received for four of five fiscal years between 2006 and 2010.