Leaders of Pennsylvania’s 14 state-owned universities say they are hopeful that a prolonged enrollment slide, fueled partly by declining high school graduation rates, is abating, even as newly released figures confirmed a fourth consecutive yearly loss.
Total State System of Higher Education enrollment is 109,606 students this fall, 2 percent less than last year. Since peaking at 119,513 students in 2010, the system has lost 8 percent of its total full- and part-time enrollment, or 9,907 students — equal to one of the system’s larger universities.
The losses are a reason the campuses are under financial strain and have realigned programs while cutting faculty and staff.
East Stroudsburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester universities managed to buck the downward enrollment trend this fall with gains of 1, 2 and 2 percent, respectively.
Most universities, including all five in Western Pennsylvania, saw gains in freshmen or transfer students, giving officials cause for hope.
The numbers were released amid actions indicating growing impatience among those schools with another source of strain: prolonged and sharp state aid reductions.
The State System’s board of governors, meeting Thursday in Harrisburg, took some in attendance by surprise by aiming high with its state appropriation request for next year — seeking a 12 percent increase for the 14 campuses, including California, Clarion, Edinboro, Indiana and Slippery Rock universities in Western Pennsylvania.
The increase to $462.7 million would be $49.9 million above this year’s funding. Last year, the system sought unsuccessfully to secure a 3.5 percent increase.
The appropriation vote came hours after it was revealed that the University of Pittsburgh will seek a 14.7 percent boost in its base state appropriation to $156.3 million for fiscal year 2015-16.
State System chairman Guido Pichini, among others, said it’s time for a conversation about the future of public higher education in Pennsylvania. “This might be a starting point for those conversations,” he said
The past few budget years have been especially rough for the state’s public campuses, including the State System and Pitt.
The State System, for instance, saw its appropriation cut 18 percent a few years ago and it has been flat since. Leaders filled the resulting gap between expenses and revenue using tuition hikes and spending cuts, including program realignments and faculty and staff layoffs.
But by its vote Thursday, the system is asking the governor and Legislature to fill the entire shortfall projected for next year.
The appropriation request and accompanying proposed State System budget show no tuition increase, but officials said one might still be needed.
Likewise, a board member cautioned peers about what to expect when the Legislature gets a request much larger than last year. “We better be prepared to defend it.”
Pitt Chancellor Patrick Gallagher said Pitt’s funding when adjusted for inflation “represents the lowest percentage of state support since Pitt became a public university in the 1960s.”
Kenneth Mash, Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties president, said it’s time for restoration of cumulative cuts he said help drive up student debt. “The time has come to be honest about what is occurring at our universities and to our students,” he said.
Bill Shackner: bshackner@post-gazette.com
First Published: October 10, 2014, 4:00 a.m.
