For as long as Penn State University has sought money from the Legislature, it has made clear that state appropriations are essential to maintaining lower tuition for in-state students.
Yet the state Legislature has made Penn State one of the least publicly supported state flagship universities in the nation, which translates into higher tuition, lower funding-per-student than other Pennsylvania state-affiliated and state-operated universities and higher long-term student debt loads for Penn State graduates.
Penn State’s budget this year is $8.6 billion, of which the state government will contribute $242.1 million — the same level as in each year since 2019.
Relatively low state funding has begun to show up in the inability of state residents to attend Penn State. A recent Brookings Institution national study found that 44.4% of Penn State students in 2018 were from other states, whereas fewer than a third in 2002 were out-of-of state residents.
The University of Delaware and West Virginia University had higher percentages of out-of-state students, but they are much smaller states. Only 34% of Ohio State students were not Ohioans in 2018, and only 16% of Rutgers University students were not from New Jersey.
Recently, the Penn State Board of Trustees approved the administration’s plan to seek a $115 million, 47% funding increase from the Legislature.
Penn State’s appropriation translates into about $5,600 per in-state student, by far the lowest among state-affiliated universities. At Temple University it is $8,275; at the University of Pittsburgh it is $9049. The appropriation for in-state students at Pennsylvania System of Higher Education universities is $8,378.
That is not the only way in which Penn State is unique, however. Its board is far less transparent than those at similar state institutions, even though there are common state standards relative to public disclosure.
Penn State students deserve to be on par with their counterparts at other public universities. Likewise, Pennsylvania taxpayers deserve greater transparency from Penn State. The Legislature should approve the greater appropriation; Penn State should commit to fully comply with the state Sunshine and Open Record laws.
— Republican & Herald, Pottsville via TNS
