The latest dire warnings about the state’s budget crisis came from leaders at the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State University.
Nicholas Jones, Penn State’s executive vice president and provost, told members of the House Appropriations Committee that the state’s largest state-related university is in the precarious position, anticipating it might not get any state dollars from the 2015-16 budget year. Last year, Penn State got $231 million from the state, about 6 percent of its budget.
Likewise, Pitt Chancellor Patrick Gallagher said that, without state funding — Pitt received $136 million last year — “the burden shifts to our students and their families.” The prospect of a tuition increase for students, nearly 70 percent of whom are Pennsylvanians — is one side effect.
Another is the borrowing that the schools may need to do. Unlike many state agencies, and even local school districts, the allocations for Pitt, Penn State, Temple and Lincoln universities are separate from the state’s operating budget, and they require a two-thirds vote by the Legislature.
Neither the standoff over those dollars nor the larger budget appears any closer to resolution than it was late last year, when the governor line-item vetoed large portions of the plan passed by lawmakers.
Mr. Gallagher spoke of a broader concern. He said the universities need a multi-year strategy to ensure “long-term stability and planning,” and he said, “What I’m most concerned about is what happens if we don’t have the certainty about the nature of our relationship to the state.”
Mr. Gallagher said “the state sees a $25 return on every $1 that it invests” in the university, and Pitt employs nearly 34,000 people. It is an economic engine for the Pittsburgh region. Sadly, his summary of the situation is right on target: “The state is playing a dangerous game of brinksmanship, and the long-term consequences are clear.”
First Published: March 6, 2016, 5:00 a.m.
