By SUSAN JONES
In his inaugural budget address last year, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said the state’s higher education system was broken and set up a task force to develop a new plan for the state-owned and state-related schools, of which Pitt is one.
He released an outline of the new blueprint for Pennsylvania higher education two weeks ago and added more details in his budget address on Feb. 5.
The most striking change would involve putting the 10 state-owned Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) schools and 15 community colleges under one organization. This new system will preserve local leadership, Shapiro said, but is intended to improve communication and pathways between the schools and create the least expensive way to get a college degree in the state.
For Pitt and the three other state-related universities — Penn State, Temple and Lincoln — the biggest change, if approved by the legislature, would be the method by which annual funding is approved.
Currently, funding for the four schools is a non-preferred appropriation, which is voted on separately from the main budget bill and requires a two-thirds majority for approval. With the House closely divided politically — control rests with the Democrats for now, but the numbers have been tied several times this year because of vacancies — and Republicans in control of the Senate, funding for the state-related schools has frequently been caught in the political fight between the two sides.
The governor’s new plan would put funding for the state-related schools in the Department of Education budget, which only requires a simple majority for passage.
In addition, Shapiro is proposing “a predictable, transparent, outcomes-based funding system that will apply to schools in the new system and our state-relateds.”
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The measurable outcomes in this plan would “benefit all Pennsylvanians,” Shapiro said in his speech. These include:
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Increasing the number of first-generation college students enrolled.
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Ensuring more students stay in Pennsylvania after graduation.
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Emphasizing students go into the fields the state needs, like agriculture, education and nursing.
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Developing transparency and increased accountability for tax dollars.
This system of outcomes-based funding would be developed over the next year with input from the General Assembly and higher education leaders, Shapiro said. Then next year, Shapiro said he’ll come back to lawmakers seeking $279 million to directly offset costs for Pennsylvania college students.
For those at state-owned and community colleges, it would mean no student or family making the median income or below will have to pay more than $1,000 per semester for tuition and fees. For students at the state-related schools or private institution, Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) grants would increase by $1,000 to $6,750 per semester.
“If we pass my plan and make the investments that I lay out in my budget, we would jump from 49th (in funding for higher education) in the nation today to 22nd in just five years,” the governor said. Pennsylvania also currently ranks 48th in higher education affordability.
In a statement on the governor’s website, Pitt Chancellor Joan Gabel, who was on the task force, said: “We thank Governor Shapiro for his leadership in putting forth an innovative blueprint to give Pennsylvania students greater opportunities for affordable, high-quality higher education and to bolster the role of colleges and universities like Pitt in driving Pennsylvania’s economic success.”
Pitt Senate President Robin Kear said she appreciated Shapiro’s “continued support of the state-related universities in the Commonwealth, and I applaud the efforts to increase funding to education more generally. I agree with efforts to centralize the state support for Pitt into a more predictable model. A predictable model of funding would bring greater certainty to Pennsylvania families with students at Pitt and other state-related institutions.”
Funding for 2024-25
The governor’s plan outlines increased funding next year, but what about his plan for the upcoming fiscal year?
His budget includes a 5 percent funding increase for the state-related universities. Last year, Shapiro asked for a 7 percent increase in state funding for the four schools. The legislature didn’t vote to approve that part of the budget until November and kept the amount at the same level it’s been since 2019.
“We're grateful for Gov. Josh Shapiro’s continued support of the University of Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania’s students and families,” a Pitt spokesman said. “Pitt looks forward to working with the Shapiro administration and the legislature to enact a higher education plan that delivers for students and puts Pennsylvania on a path to a more competitive workforce and a more robust economy.”
In September 2023, Pitt submitted its budget proposal to the state for fiscal year 2024-25, which it was required to do even though the funding for 2023-24 had yet to be approved. Pitt requested 9.25 percent increase over what the governor proposed, but ultimately did not get, for fiscal year 2023-24.
In submitting the larger than normal state funding request, Pitt said it was “looking to partner with our legislators to freeze in-state tuition for 2024-25.” In order to achieve a tuition freeze, the University said it would actually need an 11.75 percent increase in FY 2025 over the amount proposed by Shapiro in his FY 2024 budget, but it was “willing to cover 2.5 percent of the increase through cost savings.”
But without the initial increase sought by Shapiro for 2023-24, Pitt would appear to be back to square one on its budget request.
Hari Sastry, Pitt’s chief financial officer, said last summer that the University was in good financial shape to handle the delay in state funding. After lawmakers approved a budget with no increase for the state-related universities, Sastry said, “We will need to manage this shortfall through a broad range of initiatives including streamlining operations, sharing services, emphasizing sustainability and improving productivity through system enhancements.”
Reaction
Lawmakers who will ultimately give a yay or nay to the governor’s plan had mixed reactions, but most seem intrigued.
Sen. Jay Costa, who represents Allegheny County, said moving the funding for Pitt and the other schools to the Department of Education budget may be the only alternative “if we want to get resources out in a timely way.”
The current process, which requires the two-thirds majority vote, he said, “unnecessarily and really arbitrarily prevents the University from getting this money timely. Historically, our House Republican colleagues have utilized that leverage to advance other issues that they deem important that are either untruthful or unnecessarily tied to an appropriation.”
But Costa admits that moving that appropriation out of the legislature’s hands has raised some concerns among his colleagues. The question will be how the allocation is structured, so the legislature is able to provide input on it.
“If we want to advance the University of Pittsburgh funding in a timely way — getting it to the students, and families have some knowledge of what they're going to need — we need to take steps like this. Our hands are being forced by House Republicans.”
Sen. Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland and Senate president pro tempore, told the Post-Gazette her office was reviewing whether switching the funding to the Education Department was constitutional. She said the specific details and language will need to be seen before a final judgment can be made.
Rep. Eric Nelson, a Republican whose district include Pitt–Greensburg, has long been an advocate for drastic changes in higher education funding in Pennsylvania. In a statement on the House GOP website, Nelson said, “I am glad to see the governor taking the subject seriously. Today’s speech didn’t go into the details of his plan. But I will certainly be ready to engage and work toward making higher education more affordable. That said, I am skeptical about a plan that spends more without correcting problems.”
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
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