June 20, 2001
STATE SYSTEM RECEIVES $471 MILLION IN STATE APPROPRIATION
Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu
The State System of Higher Education will receive a state appropriation of $471.8 million next year as part of the 2001-02 budget passed by the General Assembly and expected to be signed by Gov. Tom Ridge.
The System’s appropriation represents a percentage increase of 6.3 percent over the past two years.
The budget includes more than $17 million for special programs. This is the second consecutive year that the Commonwealth has given the State System a generous appropriation aside of its base appropriation. These dollars will be used for information technology initiatives and performance funding. The Board of Governors will decide the specifics of how the funds will be allocated at a future meeting.
The System also will receive approximately $1.6 million for social equity programs designed to help recruit and retain minority and other under-represented students and to help them succeed in college, and $222,000 for the operation of the McKeever Environmental Learning Center, which is operated by Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania on behalf of the Commonwealth.
“We are pleased with the level of commitment that the governor and Pennsylvania lawmakers have given the State System’s information technology initiatives and performance funding efforts in this year’s budget,” said Board of Governors Chairman Charles A. Gomulka. “Higher education truly is an investment in the people, resources and economy of the Commonwealth. This budget will help keep the state’s public universities on track with efficiently meeting the needs of our students and Pennsylvania.”
The System receives about half of its funding from the state. Most of the remainder comes from student tuition and other charges.
The Board of Governors will review the State System’s 2001-02 budget in July. That budget will include next year’s tuition rate for students who attend any of the 14 state-owned universities.
The System will receive additional state funding from several other sources in the budget, including an estimated $9.3 million for deferred maintenance through the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund. A nearly $1.6 million appropriation to the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) will be distributed through loans to students admitted to Cheyney University of Pennsylvania’s Keystone Academy, a scholarship program for academically strong students.
“This year’s budget will continue the mission of our universities to provide the highest quality education at an affordable cost,” said Chancellor James H. McCormick. “It gives the Board of Governors the flexibility and foundation for advancing the public universities to the next level.”
With more than 96,000 students, the State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth.
The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The System also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and the University Center for Southwest Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh. The regional centers are part of the Educational Resources Group, which is responsible for coordinating statewide programming.