The faculty union at IUP and the other State System of Higher Education universities will stage its “Affordable College Now!” rally at the state capitol in Harrisburg tomorrow, advocating for a 15 percent increase in state funding, for the Pennsylvania Promise initiative, and other higher education and labor issues.
The rally will feature students, faculty, coaches, staff, alumni and supporters of not only State System schools, but also of community colleges and Pennsylvania’s four state-related schools.
APSCUF President Dr. Kenneth Mash says public higher education has been underfunded for decades in the commonwealth, and, he says, even when there have been increases, “they still have not adequately made up for previous cuts and years of underfunding.”
Among other provisions, the Pennsylvania Promise would pay the four-year tuition for State System students with a family income less than $110,000 per year, and the two-year tuition for students at the state’s fourteen community colleges.
The rally is scheduled for noon on the front steps of the Capitol building. Other organizations scheduled to take part include AAUP, AFSCME Council 13, AFT, AFTPA, AFT Local 2067- CCAC, APSCUF, Emergency Campaign to Support Higher Education, FSFCCP, Federation of Reading Area Community College, HELU, IBT Local 8, MCCC Faculty Federation, PA-AAUP, PA AFL-CIO, PSEA, SEIU 668, TAUP, TUGSA, USW District 10, USW Local 1511
The State System Board of Governors is scheduled to hold its quarterly meeting meet October 7th and 8th.
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