Under Pa. plan, more cuts for state-system colleges

Gov. Corbett promised "a thorough, public, and candid conversation" about the rising cost of higher education in announcing a budget that slashes state support to colleges for the second straight year.

The proposed cuts of up to 30 percent, on top of a nearly 20 percent reduction last year, are leading observers in Harrisburg and elsewhere to question whether a major shift is at hand: an effort to defund what some Republican legislators see as wasteful public universities in an era of shrinking resources.

"Do we need all these campuses?" State Sen. Jake Corman (R., Centre) asked Tuesday, promising that the Senate would examine the proliferation of satellite campuses.

Within hours of Corbett's budget address, college leaders, union heads, and Democratic politicians were marshaling to fight the cuts.

"There is a trend underlying all this - that is to defund public education and to defund particularly public higher education," said Art Hochner, president of the Temple University faculty union. "As if higher education is some kind of private good that individuals get and therefore they ought to pay for it, and pay good bucks for it, as opposed to a public good where the state benefits from investing in having an educated workforce and people who pay taxes."

Pennsylvania won't return to the age of big steel, oil, and mining, where jobs were plentiful for people who had only basic education, he said. That makes college an ever more important investment.

Corbett's proposed higher-education spending of $978 million would be 35 percent lower than the $1.51 billion spent by Gov. Rendell in his last budget.

Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R., Delaware) stressed that the legislature intended to scrutinize college funding in light of the bleak job picture.

"We have to look at post-high-school education," he said, "and focus on linking to careers in an era of high unemployment and recession."

As Corbett announced his budget, he also announced the creation of a panel to study ways to make higher education accessible and affordable to students - and to taxpayers.

"We need to open the discussion about how best to finance higher education in this state," Corbett said.

The 30-person panel will be led by Rob Wonderling, president of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. He released a statement saying he was honored to serve, but was unavailable for further comment.

One of the panel's main objectives, the governor's office said, is to develop a long-term strategy for the changing demands of Pennsylvania's economy and job market. The findings are due by Nov. 15.

Serving on the committee are CEOs of major businesses, a college professor, a student, and the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State University, Lincoln, and Temple - the last of whom said Tuesday that the governor's spending plan "is not one that can be met by cutting costs."

Temple President Ann Weaver Hart, possibly about to depart for the University of Arizona, said that she understood the Commonwealth faced hard budget choices - and that her school responded during the last three years by cutting $76 million.

"If approved by the General Assembly, this reduction in support will be felt by every student, parent, and employee," she said, urging Temple supporters to contact state legislators.

After budget cuts last year, Temple raised tuition 10 percent.

"One elected official recently laid out an ultimatum," the governor said in his address. "He said, 'Let me put colleges and universities on notice: If you can't stop tuition from going up, the funding you get from taxpayers will go down. Higher education can't be a luxury. It is an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford.' Those were the words of President Obama in his State of the Union address last month."

Karen Stout, president of Montgomery County Community College, said a reduction in state support would make it all but certain that tuition would rise.

"I'm worried about the continuing erosion of state support for all colleges, not just community colleges," she said, calling the budget "an assault on funding for higher education."

Community colleges face a 3.8 percent reduction - about $800,000 for MCCC.

The 14 schools in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), including Cheyney and West Chester universities, would see their funding cut 20 percent, to $330 million.

PASSHE Board of Governors Chairman Guido Pichini and Chancellor John Cavanaugh called that cut "the latest in a cascade of reductions to the state system in the past 18 months. If this proposal stands, we will have lost more than $170 million in state and federal education and general funding, compounded by a 50 percent reduction in our capital allocation."

In June, Corbett signed a budget that reduced funding for PASSHE 18 percent. Tuition subsequently went up 7.5 percent.

"Since taking office, Gov. Corbett has taken every opportunity to decrease funding for our universities," said Steve Hicks, head of the union that represents 6,000 PASSHE faculty members and coaches. "We understand that these are challenging economic times, but our students and their families are already struggling to make ends meet."

Three of the four state-related universities - Temple, Penn State, and the University of Pittsburgh - each face a loss of roughly one third of their funding, according to budget documents.

Temple's subsidy would be $98 million, down from nearly $140 million, a 30 percent cut. Penn State's funding would fall to $163 million from $227 million, a 28 percent decrease. The University of Pittsburgh's allocation would drop from $136 million to $95 million, a 30 percent decrease.

The fourth state-related college, historically black Lincoln University, would see no reduction. It would receive $11.1 million, the same as the current year. It was not immediately clear why Lincoln's funding was left intact.

"This is just more of the same," said State Rep. Brendan Boyle (D., Phila.-Montgomery), promising to fight the governor's proposed cuts. "He clearly did not learn his lesson from the pain he caused in last year's budget."

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Staff writers Angela Couloumbis and

John Duchneskie contributed to this article.