Nearly a year ago, Gov. Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania urged state legislators to cut in half the state’s spending on public colleges. Campus leaders fought back, and despite some political missteps, they negotiated the proposed reduction down to 19 percent.
This year, the Republican governor’s budget, released today, proposes about a 30-percent cut for three of the four state-related institutions—Pennsylvania State and Temple Universities, and the University of Pittsburgh. The 14 state-owned universities would see a 20-percent cut under the governor’s new budget. Community colleges would see a cut of nearly 4 percent, and funds for state-supported student loans would drop by 5 percent.
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