Plenty of discussion was made on declining enrollment and the cost of higher education during Thursday’s Senate Appropriations Committee hearings in Harrisburg.
Talks centered on Governor Josh Shapiro’s $45.8 billion plan that seeks to boost state spending by more than $1.3 billion above the current budget, however that would wipe the state’s Rainy Day Fund in five years, according to projections.
Of those funds, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) requested $685.4 million, which would be an increase of 24.1 percent, but the governor’s budget only allows for a 2 percent increase. When asked how that proposed increase would impact PASSHE, Chancellor Dan Greenstein said there could be possible increases in tuition increases.
Greenstein also discussed the possibilities of PASSHE-owned universities incorporating three-year pilot programs into their curriculum after IUP recently experimented with this type of program. Greenstein said PASSHE schools are “behind the curve” in implementing this into their curriculum.
This was the second of three budget hearings for PASSHE. No date has been set yet for the final one.
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