Chancellor Dan Greenstein told the Board of Governors yesterday that State System of Higher Education is “at a turning point” in deciding the course of public higher education in Pennsylvania.
In his annual “State of the State System” speech, Greenstein outlined his vision for the State System Redesign, including how students at one school can take course and programs at other schools; budget plans that ensure all universities are financially sustainable in five years; cost savings achieved by leveraging the system’s 14 universities and more than 95,000 students; and monitoring progress based on meeting clearly identified student and university goals.
Greenstein said the state can no longer “kick the can down the road” in funding, declaring “There is no more road.” He said both the State System and elected state leaders share responsibility for the financial fix the fourteen schools find themselves in. Pennsylvania ranks 48th in the nation in funding public higher education.
The State System will ask for $487 million in state appropriations this year, a two percent increase over this year, and it is also asking for a new, separate investment of $20 million in a five-year $100 million project to redesign State System operations,
Greenstein spoke at the quarterly meeting of the Board of Governors, which continues today in Harrisburg.
