In a joint hearing of the Senate and House Democratic Policy Committees this week, the president of the faculty union of the State System of Higher Education told Democratic lawmakers that “it’s an embarrassment” that U.S. News and World Report ranks Pennsylvania 50th for higher education, 51st in average student loan debt, 49th in student loan debt per capita, and 49th in higher education support per capita.
Dr. Kenneth Mash blamed the State System’s financial problems on falling enrollment due largely to the increasing cost of attending the fourteen state-owned schools, which he tied to budget cuts enacted in 2011. Mash cited State System Chancellor Dan Greenstein’s comments last month that even if funding for the State System was increased only to the national average of state support, tuition could be immediately cut by 22 percent.
Mash spoke in support of the Pennsylvania Promise, a Democratic proposal that would have the state pay the tuition and fees at the state-owned and state-related schools and community colleges for recent high school graduates whose families earn less than $110,000, and also cover room and board if the students’ families earn less than $48,000. Students rallied at the capitol on Wednesday to call for passage of the Pennsylvania Promise package of bills.
