Owning the crisis

The challenge of improving Pennsylvania’s higher education system rests with the state, argues university administrator SCOTT IRLBACHER

The chancellor of Pennsylvania’s state-owned universities recently admitted that the system is in crisis. The diagnosis? A threatening combination of enrollment losses, state appropriations at the same dollar amount as they were nearly 20 years ago and collective bargaining agreements that bring annual cost increases despite stagnant or declining revenues at nearly every university.

This should be unacceptable for all Pennsylvanians and the thousands of non-residents who are paying to attend these schools. But the onus shouldn’t fall on the individual universities — it should be owned (and corrected) by the state.

One reason we’re in this mess is that Pennsylvania has one of the highest concentrations of post-secondary education options in the nation and lacks a central comprehensive plan on how to fund public higher education and provide aid to Pennsylvanians wishing to attend private institutions. The ratio is increasing as the state continues to lose population. The state owns 14 universities, collectively known as the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.

The state also guarantees annual funding to 12 community colleges, along with Lincoln University, Penn State University, Temple University, Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh. On top of all of this, Pennsylvania also boasts over 80 private colleges and universities, and that doesn’t include Bible colleges, seminaries, trade schools or predominantly online institutions. Through the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, we also have a large program to provide low-interest loans and grants to the neediest Pennsylvanians to attend college.

Astonishingly, Pennsylvania lacks any sort of comprehensive plan related to funding higher education institutions or providing direct higher education student aid.

First, Pennsylvania must prioritize the institutions it owns. These would be the 14 state system universities and Thaddeus Stevens in Lancaster. When my parents attended Edinboro State College in the early 1970s, Pennsylvania was funding roughly 70 percent of the cost of running the institution. However, when the state elevated these colleges to the university level it failed to keep up with increased operational costs. When I attended Edinboro 30 years later, Pennsylvania’s appropriation accounted for less than 30 percent of what it cost to operate the university. The state system now receives funding in nearly the same dollar amount it received from Pennsylvania in 1999.

This is unacceptable, and the state must come up with a funding formula whereby the state covers the majority of the cost or something very close to it. Citizens must ask our state why it costs roughly $15,000 to educate each student at state-owned universities while we spend roughly $42,000 per inmate at state-owned prisons. Pennsylvania must identify administrative functions that can be consolidated or centralized by existing state departments in Harrisburg.

The state also must make a tough decision about the future of Cheyney University. For too long it has been an operational quagmire and a financial disaster. Open admission has only exacerbated its tuition-driven revenue problems. The state must identify a way to meet its mission as a historically black university or fold the university altogether.

Second, Pennsylvania needs to increase geographic access to affordable two-year education opportunities. In Pennsylvania, there is

just one community college north of Interstate 80 — Luzerne County Community College.

Left out are the mid-major population centers of Erie and Crawford counties, State College and Williamsport, and the collective Pennsylvania Wilds region between the Allegheny and Susquehanna Rivers. In general, if you live in the region of the state where the economy is hurting the most, you also have the least access to affordable education to change your circumstances or train the future workforce. With the exception of Erie and Crawford counties, the presence of mountains, rivers and forests and the lack of interstate highways make access even more difficult for these Pennsylvanians.

Additional opportunities exist for residential community and technical colleges like those offered in the State University of New York system.

These suit the needs of students who want the traditional residential college experience but lack preparation for a four-year college or university, are undecided on a degree program or want a technical education not typically offered by a liberal arts school. Thaddeus Stevens and Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport are not enough to serve the entire state.

Lastly, Pennsylvania should end state funding for Penn State and Pitt branch campuses. State funding to Penn State and Pitt is meant to provide affordable access to land-grant research-intensive university educations — not to operate other campuses. Most of these campuses were created to meet specific education needs of particular regions. This need is now met through online education.

Today Pitt and Penn State operate over two dozen branch campuses — half of which offer housing and all of which offer intercollegiate athletics. After removing the flagship campuses, the sixyear graduation rate of Penn State and Pitt branches is just 48 percent and 51 percent, respectively. The 14 state system universities average nearly 60 percent.

These campuses encroach on the mission of stateowned universities and state-funded community colleges. While some have distinct or unique programs, much unnecessary duplication exists. For example, in Erie County lies state-owned Edinboro University and state-funded Penn State Behrend. Roughly half of Penn State Erie’s degree programs are duplicated at Edinboro University. This is a waste of limited tax dollars for public higher education. On the other hand, some programs in business and engineering are strong and unique and should be retained.

A tremendous opportunity exists to convert some Penn State and Pitt campuses to independent, residential two-year colleges. This would allow these campuses to shift focus from bachelor’s degree programs for students who lack academic qualifications to study at their flagship campuses to associate and technical programs that meet the workforce needs of the immediate region.

With the blue- and whitecollar work ethic Pennsylvania is known for and the dearth of higher education opportunity in our state, we can easily fix this mess. After all, we got ourselves into it.