Pa. House approves PSU funding, with a catch

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives this week passed two bills related to the four state-related universities — Penn State, Temple, Lincoln, and Pitt.

On Tuesday, state lawmakers voted 145-57 to release more than $640 million in funding for the universities, an effort that has been delayed since June, the Pennsylvania Capital-Star reports.

A Republican amendment to the bill would require universities not to raise tuition for the 2024-25 academic year.

“We can’t tell our young people that they should go to our institutions of higher education, particularly our institutions here in Pennsylvania, and then make it unobtainable because it is unaffordable for them,” state House Appropriations Committee Chair Jordan Harris (D., Philadelphia) told reporters. 

The bill next needs approval in the state Senate.

Penn State, according to the Centre Daily Times, “cannot support” the tuition freeze.

The university Board of Trustees in July approved tuition increases for the next two years, the CDT reported. The university is slated to receive $250 million in funding from the state. 

“Our elected officials cannot expect Penn State to offer a world-class education to our students while providing state funding near the lowest level in the nation,” the university said in a statement provided to the CDT.

Also this week, the state House passed a bill — 201 to 1 — that would require more transparency from the state-related universities.

“Universities would be required to list the salaries of all officers and directors, as well as up to the 200 highest-paid employees, plus faculty salary ranges. They would have to disclose enrollment and staff employment figures. The universities would have to report how much money is brought in and spent each year, and would have to file a list of contracts exceeding $5,000 to the governor’s office and Legislature,” the Associated Press reports.

This bill also heads to the Senate for a vote.