Higher education long ago began a shift from broad-based general education to career-specific programs. And that has accelerated as the work world has become more technically oriented.
Now the stressed State System of Higher Education is on the mark in attempting to adapt that idea for the benefit of students, the system’s long-term viability and key elements of the state’s economy.
The system’s governing board voted Thursday to ask the Legislature for $112 million to enroll and support students to pursue degrees in fields for which there are significant labor shortages across the state. Chancellor Daniel Greenstein said the request is based on the documented needs of employers in health care, education, engineering, computer science and social work.
Many universities in the state also produce graduates in those fields, he said, but added that the need is great. The system alone annually would have to produce 1,500 teachers, 1,400 business-area graduates and 700 more nurses and physicians’ assistants to meet its share of the known need, Greenstein said.
Of the $112 million requested, $99 million would be used to increase financial aid to students in the relevant majors, and the rest would go for expenses tied to instruction in high-cost, technically oriented programs. The programs and aid would be available at all of the system’s 10 universities and 14 campuses.
The aid is especially important because it could help to make degrees accessible to more low-income students. Cost remains the key obstacle to a college education for many of those students, even though the system has frozen its tuition at $7,716 a year for the past four years. And emphasizing degrees to fill major shortages in known areas could help to ensure long-term success.
Most system graduates go on to work in Pennsylvania. So lawmakers would be wise to help the system help students while helping key sectors of the state economy meet their needs. The Legislature should approve the request in the next state budget.
— Republican & Herald, Pottsville via TNS
