News
PASSHE spokesman talks dollars and sense
PASSHE Media Relations Manager Kenn Marshall visits Clarion to establish better contact with student media on his 14-school tour. Caitlin Mcgill / The Clarion Call
Clarion, Pa – The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s allocation from the state and federal government fell by almost $90 million from last year’s,
according to PASSHE Media Relations Manager Kenn Marshall.
That’s down about 18 percent, Marshall said, the largest decrease in state funding in PASSHE’s 28-year history.
“Our board works very hard to keep tuition down,” Marshall said, “but when faced with a $90 million budget cut, they were faced with no choice but to raise tuition.”
Marshall said in late June the PASSHE Board of Governors, which sets general policy for the 14 state schools in the system, voted to increase students’ tuition by
more than 7 percent.
“In four of the previous five years,” Marshall said, “our tuition increases have been below the rate of inflation, which is something that no other public university
system in the country can claim.”
The U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics sets the inflation rate for August 2010 to August 2011 between 3 percent and 4 percent.
“The board was very committed that it was not going to pass along the entire cut to the students,” Marshall said.
Spread evenly between the more than 120,000 students in the PASSHE schools, Marshall said, the cost of the budget cut would have raised tuition by more than $800 for
each student.
“Tuition was raised by $436,” Marshall said. “They kept that promise.”
Marshall said the increase in tuition still left a $35 million shortfall in PASSHE funding.
Marshall noted the decade-long effort on the part of PASSHE schools to reduce costs “by almost $200 million.”
Saving on energy is one of the foremost ways the university system cuts costs, Marshall said.
“A perfect example,” Marshall said, “is the solar panel array on Clarion’s new science building.”
PASSHE schools also save money by purchasing energy contracts jointly, Marshall said, pooling their buying power to get better rates.
Marshall said he thinks the reason the cuts amounted to 18 percent instead of the 50 percent proposed by Gov. Tom Corbett was the advocacy in Harrisburg by students
and citizens on the behalf of PASSHE prior to the budget’s passing.
“The best thing you can do to encourage more funding for the system is to write a letter to your legislator,” Marshall said.
“Call their offices,” he said, “because they listen. Write the letters from your heart.”
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