On January 26, Governor Josh Shapiro made an announcement via press release that his administration plans to overhaul the higher education system in Pennsylvania in the coming future.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the governor announced plans to reform the governing structure of PA’s state universities and community colleges, prioritizing keeping schools open despite demographic changes as well as affordability and cost-effectiveness. The governor also plans to address affordability by placing a cap on tuition at $1,000 per semester for low-income families instead of the current average of over $7,000 per semester, while minimizing competition by bringing 25 state institutions under a central coordinating body. Shapiro plans to deliver a fully fleshed out version of this plan at his 2nd Annual Budget Address on February 6, where he will discuss a wide range of topics ranging from education to public transportation.
The governor’s proposal comes on the heels of a rapidly changing environment for higher education, as population decline is predicted to lead to lower enrollment over the next few decades. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the U.S. college enrollment growth rate grew consistently between 1980 and 2010, growing at an average rate of 2.2% a year, peaking at 18 million enrolled students in 2010. However, due to a variety of factors including declining birth rates and rising tuition costs, the total number of undergraduate college enrollments has declined nationally since 2010, at about 1.6% a year with only 15 million enrolled students in 2021. The concern is that an overabundance of higher education institutions will create a saturation of the education market and will result in many universities closing in the coming decades should this trend continue. The situation in Pennsylvania reflects these grim statistics; during the 2022 school year, enrollment declined by 2.2% in the schools operated by the State System of Higher Education. This official public agency oversees 10 state-owned schools including Millersville, Kutztown, East Stroudsburg, Shippensburg, and West Chester. Although first-time student enrollment increased by 3.4% in 2022 for these schools, retention has been a problem leading to declines in enrollment of 8% in the schools recently merged into the Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania, (Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, and Mansfield) and declines of 11% in the schools recently merged into the Pennsylvania Western University, (California, Clarion, and Edinboro).
Additionally, although Commonwealth University was able to increase their first-time enrollment by 15%, Western University first time enrollments declined over 20%. With lower enrollment, fear is growing that many state institutions will be forced to cut spending, introduce budget restrictions and ultimately some will be forced to close their doors. The effects of this decline are already being felt across the state, with Pennsylvania State University’s President Neeli Bendapudi proposing a 14% cut in the 2025-2026 budget for the university’s satellite campuses. The governor plans to tackle this situation by working with the state General Assembly to allow Pennsylvania’s state campuses to adopt a new system which will make them more competitive and more cost effective. The governor’s plan would place the state’s 10 public universities and 15 community colleges under the authority of a central governing body designed to allow for increased cooperation and accountability between schools.
In addition to the tuition cap for state institutions, the governor’s plan would increase public spending on higher education. Currently, Pennsylvania ranks 49th in the nation in spending on higher education (only New Hampshire is lower). The governor has also proposed a performance-based criteria for funding, which would award more funding to schools which succeed in retention and graduation. Schools that prioritize professions facing shortages such as nursing and education or rapidly developing professions such as advanced manufacturing and biotechnology would financially benefit under the governor’s proposal.
