In his budget address, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro proposed millions in more funding for his ... [+]
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has proposed a nearly $200 million increase for higher education as part of his $48.3 billion FY 2024-25 budget request for the state. Of the total $194 million increase for higher education, $157 million would go toward funding of the state’s public institutions.
In his budget message in Harrisburg today, Shapiro called Pennsylvania’s higher education system “broken,” adding, “after 30 years of disinvestment, too many of our colleges and universities are running on empty and not enough students have affordable pathways through college and into good jobs.”
As a result, enrollment in Pennsylvania’s state higher education institutions has dropped 30%, and enrollment in its community colleges has decreasd 37% over the past decade, according to the governor.
Shapiro’s funding recommendations follow his three-part blueprint for higher education, revealed last month. Here are the highlights.
New Governance System
First, he wants to create a new governance system for ten of the state’s public universities and its 15 community colleges that would consolidate some operations, reduce program duplication and create broader pathways to college degrees and other postsecondary credentials.
Shapiro’s plan would unite the community colleges under the same umbrella with the institutions in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PSSHE), a system that’s already seen six of its former universities merged into two regional campuses to save millions in costs and adjust to sagging enrollments.
To fund that idea, Shapiro proposed a 15% increase from $850 million to $975 for the PASSE universities and community colleges combined.
Performance Funding
Shapiro also wants Pennsylvania to move to a funding model where distribution of state money to the PSSHE schools and the four “state-related” institutions – Pennsylvania State University, University of Pittsburgh, Temple University and Lincoln University – would be tied to performance on certain outcome metrics.
His budget calls for a 5% increase in funding for these four state-related universities, which collectively receive about $600 million from the state currently.
According to an earlier press release from the Governor’s office, “the formula will take into consideration factors including but not limited to increasing enrollment, the number of first-generation college students that receive credentials, and the graduation rate.” In addition, institutions would be rewarded for increasing degree completions in fields where there are workforce shortages like education and nursing, and for “growing fields like advanced manufacturing and biotechnology, that will drive our Commonwealth’s economic growth in the decades to come.”
Shapiro also would have the performance funding formula run through the Pennsylvania Department of Education rather than the legislature to cut down on the institutions being subjected to what he called “political games.”
Access and Affordability
Finally, Shapiro is promising to recommend $279 million in additional funding next year to help make college more affordable for Pennsylvanians, but that part of his plan would not start until the 2025-26 fiscal year. These additional investments include:
- An increase in financial aid for students attending the schools under the new governance system so that Pennsylvanians making up to the median income would pay no more than $1,000 in tuition and fees per semester.
- An increase to Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) state grants by $1,000, increasing the maximum award from $5,750 to $6,750.
Shapiro has pitched his budget as an affordable one that does not require increased taxes, relying instead on spending about $3 billion of the state’s $14 billion surplus to help fund the plan.
