Corbett’s Budget Includes Dramatic Higher Education Cuts

State-funded higher education took the most dramatic hit in Gov. Tom Corbett’s first budget address Tuesday, as he proposed a 50 percent reduction in funding next year for the state’s colleges and universities.  

As part of an overall plan to reduce state spending and focus on the core functions of government, Corbett laid out a plan to cut the overall state budget by more than 3 percent. The ax will fall particularly hard on the state college and university system.

In his address, Corbett said the arguments for state-subsidizes tuition for college had failed to produce results.  

“Despite state subsidies over the past decades, tuition has continued to increase,” said Corbett. “If the intent was to keep tuition rates down, it failed.”  

In his proposal, the State System of Higher Education, which operates 14 colleges across the state, would receive a proposed $232.6 million, down from $444 million in the current year.

Penn State would receive $165 million; the University of Pittsburgh would receive $80 million; Temple University would receive $82.4 million; and Lincoln University would receive $6.8 million. All represent cuts of close to 50 percent from current fiscal year levels.

The dramatic reductions in state spending was criticized by Democrats in the General Assembly as a blow to the middle class and working families in Pennsylvania who may no longer be able to afford higher education.  

State Sen. Vincent Hughes, D-Philadelphia, said the reductions would “more than likely” result in 20 percent tuition increases at state-funded universities.  

Immediately after the budget address, Penn State issued a statement calling the proposed cuts “devastating” even though state funds account for only 8 percent of the school’s budget.  

"A funding gap this large is going to fundamentally change the way we operate, from the number of students we can educate, to the tuition we must charge, to the programs we offer and the services we can provide, to the number of employees and the research we undertake," said Graham Spanier, president of the university.  

Corbett’s budget would reduce the school’s funding by $182 million, the equivalent of 4 percent of the school’s budget.  

Some House Democrats said the cuts may be severe enough to force the closing of state colleges.  

“The level of these cuts cannot be made up with tuition increases, because then they will lose students,” said state Rep. Mike Hanna, D-Centre, “They are going to have to look at closing institutions.”  

Basic education saw smaller reductions in Corbett’s budget, but cuts will still be felt.  

The state Department of Education will see a $2 billion reduction in budget under Corbett’s proposal, from $15 billion to $13 billion when all funds are considered.  

The cuts will not fall heavily on the state’s basic education subsidy for school districts, which will be increased from $4.73 billion to $5.226 billion. However, school districts still will face some cuts due to the loss of nearly $1 billion in federal funds that were added to the state basic education subsidy. Those funds will expire in June when the federal stimulus program comes to an end.  

Corbett addressed the cuts to education in his budget address, arguing everyone had to share in the sacrifice and alluded to the controversial school choice bill, S.B. 1, which would give the state’s poorest students access to vouchers for tuition at a private school.  

“Pennsylvania needs to re-think how best to educate our children,” he said. “We simply can’t work within a broken system. We need to change the whole system. One size does not fit all. But as it now stands, not all get to choose. Let’s give them school choice.”  

Democratic House leaders, in giving their response to the governor’s budget address, said the proposed cuts to basic education would not find support with the people of Pennsylvania.  

House Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-Allegheny, said there would be “very little” support for Corbett’s sweeping cuts to the education budget and predicted Corbett’s proposed spending reductions would result in higher property taxes as school districts scramble to make up for state funding.  

Hughes also criticized Corbett’s elimination of the Accountability Block Grant program, which last year provided more than $259 million for school districts to use as they saw fit.  

Education support services, or administration, would receive $115 million, compared to $140.4 million last year. Basic education would receive $12 billion for the state’s 501 school districts, down from $13.3 billion in the previous budget.

Boehm and Deyo are reporters with PA Independent