Pennsylvania governor proposes reform of state university system

Pennsylvania governor proposes reform of state university system

Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, who has complained that higher education in his state “isn’t working,” on Friday proposed a sweeping overhaul of the state’s sprawling college and university system that would reduce tuition for many students and determine the funding of individual schools based in part on their performance.

The plan would consolidate 10 of Pennsylvania’s state universities and its 15 community colleges under one governance umbrella, increase state funding for public higher education and allow low- and middle-income students to pay just $1,000 per semester in tuition.

Most of the plan would not affect Pennsylvania’s best-known public universities, including Penn State, Pittsburgh and Temple.

“After 30 years of disinvestment, many of our colleges and universities are empty and not enough students have affordable pathways to good jobs,” Shapiro said in a statement.

Plans for the reform have been developed for nearly a year by a task force formed by the governor, who publicly complained shortly after taking office in 2023 about problems in the state’s higher education system.

Competition among state-funded universities, he said last year, was creating a negative effect, with “universities competing with each other for a limited dollar, duplicating degree programs, increasing costs and, in effect, reducing access.”

Shapiro, a Democrat and former state attorney general, did not disclose the dollar amount of his funding proposal, or whether new taxes would be imposed or there would be cuts to university departments. Some of those details are expected to be revealed in February. 6, when the governor is ready to deliver a budget message.

A spokesman for the governor said the exact governance structure of the new system — and whether it would have a board and chancellor — had not yet been resolved with the state legislature.

While cost savings are a priority, with the possibility of university administrative functions being consolidated, there were no plans to close campuses, the spokesperson said.

Under the plan, each college’s funding would be based in part on a system that rewards schools that meet performance metrics, including their graduation rates and the number of first-generation college students who receive credentials.

Pennsylvania currently ranks 48th among states in the affordability of its public higher education system and 49th in public higher education spending, according to Shapiro’s office.

A 2021 analysis by an independent research group, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, found that Pennsylvania was one of four states where students had to pay 20 percent or more of their household income for higher education.

Nationally, there has been growing concern about college affordability as budget cuts by states since the 2008 financial crisis have shifted more of the cost onto students. Several governors, both Democrats and Republicans, have proposed additional funding for higher education.

Mr. Shapiro’s plan affects 10 smaller public universities across the state that comprise what is known as the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Enrollment at the 10 schools has declined sharply over the past 10 years, to 83,000 students in 2023 from 115,000 in 2012. Enrollment at community colleges in the state has seen a similar decline.

Colleges are bracing for additional declines in enrollment in the coming years as students born after the 2008 financial crisis (a period of lower birth rates) come of age.