Pennsylvania Governor Proposes 50% Budget Cut for State Colleges

State-supported colleges and universities in Pennsylvania would take among the biggest hits in a 2011-12 budget proposed today by the state’s new Republican governor, Tom Corbett, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Under the $27.3-billion plan, state spending would be reduced to 2008-9 levels, with funds for the four state-related universities cut in half, compared with current amounts. The State System of Higher Education, which includes 14 universities, as well as the multiple campuses of Pennsylvania State University would fare no better, also absorbing a 50-percent cut in state funds. Governor Corbett said the budget had been put together “with honesty and restraint” in order to create “a more limited but vigorous government.” Penn State today described the budget as “catastrophic” and an “apparent push toward privatization of public higher education.”