Startled by severity of cuts, aim to control 2011 tuition increases
By Darwyyn Deyo | PA Independent
Members of the Pennsylvania House Education Committee say they are “taken aback” by Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed 50 percent cuts to higher education and pledge to closely examine the potential impact on tuition costs.
The House Appropriations higher education budget hearing is set for March 28 where members of the Appropriations and Education Committees will have the chance to question the executive directors of Penn State, Lincoln University, the University of Pittsburgh and Temple University. The schools have seen their state subsidies reduced by half.
In the governor’s proposed budget, Penn State could see its subsidy cut from $333.8 million to $165 million. Lincoln University could see a cut from $13.7 million to $6.8 million. The University of Pittsburgh is facing a proposed $80.2 million subsidy, down from $167.9 million, and Temple University is facing a cut from $172.7 million to $82.4 million.
House Education Committee Chairman Paul Clymer, R-Bucks, said he was startled by how deep the cuts were.
“The red flags were well up in advance saying this is not going to be a very easy budget to deal with,” said Clymer. “(It was) just the size of the cuts in higher education that startled everyone, and we have to catch our breath, and we have to work collectively. I would like to see some of the cuts restored, but I may have a different view after we have the opportunity to question our executive directors.
“Certainly Penn State can absorb that 50 percent cut more than Lincoln,” said Clymer. “It hurts (Lincoln) much more financially than it does a large university with many alumni, as Penn State has. The point is a 50 percent cut is still a 50 percent cut. It hurts, there’s no question about it.”
Dr. John Cavanaugh, chancellor of the State System of Higher Education, also will testify March 28.
“We’re going to have to stop and see what direction we’re going,” said Clymer, “after we do a thorough investigation of the entire budget. It’s going to be challenging this year but that’s what the public expects us to do … and to provide continuing funding for the programs that are so essential for Pennsylvania.”
As part of his budget address last week, Corbett noted that tuition costs at the State System of Higher Education have continued to increase even as the state has given larger subsidies throughout the years. Corbett has proposed a subsidy of $444.47 million for 2011-2012, down from $476.4 million last year, a 6.7 percent cut.
State government appropriations for the State System of Higher Education account for only 25 percent to 26 percent of total revenue for the universities, according to the House Education Committee.
During the past 10 years, tuition for two semesters at the State System of Higher Education has jumped 44.5 percent, while inflation during the same period in Pennsylvania has been 2.7 percent.
State Rep. James Roebuck, D-Philadelphia, minority Chairman of the House Education Committee, suggested the tuition increases could be caused by increased enrollment. But he said he wanted to investigate the matter further.
“I think there a number of factors to determine about the cost of college,” said Roebuck. “The (State System of Higher Education) is one where I would like to know whether all of the money goes to the individual schools, or does in fact … provide support to schools that are struggling, and that would in part account for the amount of money going in and coming out.”
Andrew Gillen, research director at the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit research center, said Pennsylvania’s higher education appropriation is different from other states.
Pennsylvania “is very odd in that the state gives appropriations to a central administrative office, which then divvies it up among the schools,” said Gillen.
“The result is that there is no state appropriations data for individual campuses for most of the … schools in the federal data,” he said.
Gillen said this method of distribution was not very transparent. According to the data, he said there is a “slight negative relationship” between higher state appropriations and a “slightly lower total price,” it is not statistically significant.
Looking at data from 2003-2005, he said tuition went up 3 percent to 6 percent regardless of state appropriations.
State Rep. Duane Milne, R-Chester, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Higher Education, said the committee was examining the tuition increases very carefully.
“I think there will be certainly a very thorough examination of (the State System of Higher Education)’s operations, particularly with an eye toward trying to minimize the tuition increases for the students,” said Milne. “That’s … one of the most important concerns — making sure tuition increases are not too extreme for students.”
Milne said he was focused on just how much more students will have to pay.
“We’re somewhat in uncharted terrain because of the nature of this very difficult economic time,” he said. “We’ve never had proposals like this in terms of the state budget, so I think part of this is really just a processing time right now, working with stakeholders to find out what some of the front line implications are. We don’t have good historical models we can point to (so) we’re in unprecedented fiscal times and that may mean unprecedented appropriations.”
Kenn Marshall, spokesperson for the State System of Higher Education, said last week the universities try “very hard” to keep tuition down, even cutting $200 million out of the budget during the past 10 years.
“We have had tuition increases in most years, but we have worked very hard to keep those as low as possible while continuing to increase the quality of education,” he said. “Our programs are accredited by more national organizations than ever before … so we believe we are both improving our quality and also keeping tuition as affordable as we can, given the resources we available.”
Senate Education Committee members did not return calls for comment.
