(The Center Square) – Coming in at more than $900 million of the state’s $50.1 billion budget, public education was the second largest spending area for the Pennsylvania General Assembly this year.
Yet, with the budget delayed by months, the state saw many of its institutions in precarious positions, while higher ed costs and big changes from the feds made headlines all year long.
Tuition trouble
Ballooning expenses for everyday families were a central focus in the world of higher education. One report found that the state faces the steepest costs for higher education in the country.
For the first time in years, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education was forced to raise its tuition rate, this time by $139 per semester. Nevertheless, the system graduated 21,000 students in the spring and introduced course-sharing across campuses to continue streamlining activity between its 10 universities. The schools still face declining enrollment.
At the same time, the state’s private and state-related institutions took heat from the federal government for their soaring costs. Penn was among Ivy League schools called by Congress to answer for alleged tuition-fixing.
A poll found that the majority of Pennsylvanians, 69%, would support a tuition grant system for students attending community colleges and PASSHE schools. Bills were introduced that would give tuition to indigenous students and out-of-state foster students, respectively, and to offer in-state tuition to long-term residents regardless of citizenship.
Higher ed fed-aches
As the federal government slashed research budgets in its efforts to root out waste and DEI, or diversity equity and inclusion, The Center Square dove deep into Pennsylvania’s higher education landscape. A series of articles examined the nature of federal funding and school spending at major research institutions like Penn State and the University of Pennsylvania.
The reports found that the state’s wealthiest schools, like Penn, receive the most funding but still struggle with the publish-or-perish grant cycle. Meanwhile, state-funded schools are a world away from their state-related counterparts.
As dust settled from pulled funding, the Trump administration extended an offer to a select group of schools: enter a compact committing to its policies and receive grant opportunities and special consideration. Penn politely declined, with liberals and conservatives alike supporting the decision.
In other areas, Pennsylvania schools were more willing to work with federal priorities. Penn acquiesced to demands from the Department of Education regarding perceived Title IX violations, and schools worked to bolster their defenses against antisemitism with encouragement from U.S. Senators Dave McCormick, R-Penn., and John Fetterman, D-Penn.
Basic education funds
The state’s K-12 schools ultimately received an increase in basic education funding, but in the months before the budget passed, many sounded the alarm that they were running out of money - and time. For immediate relief, the Treasury offered low-interest loans.
A major pain point for the state’s nearly 3,000 schools are their aging facilities. Legislators continue to seek out ways to approach the daunting task of maintenance and repairs.
To pay for it, and to continue closing the funding adequacy gap, some lawmakers have proposed ending the current system of local property tax-based funding for the system. They aim to replace it with an education trust fund.
It’s likely still too soon to tell if the increases to basic education made in the last budget season are having their desired effect. This year’s state standardized assessment scores showed decline in several areas with increases in a few, including attendance.
Funding for certain schools, however, was reevaluated in the new budget and promises to deliver money back into the pockets of districts who have been sending tuition out to cyber charters. The reform follows a damning report from the Pennsylvania Auditor General Tim DeFoor. Meanwhile, an AI charter proposal was roundly dismissed by the state.
Policy points
At the federal level, Secretary of Education and former professional wrestling executive Linda McMahon worked to “put herself out of a job.” The Democratic co-chair of the state senate’s education committee, Sen. Lindsey Williams, D-Pittsburgh, voiced strong opposition, even proposing a state-level agency to replace the cuts.
State policies also came under the microscope, with bipartisan talk around the topic of school cell phone bans. Recognizing that even with bans in place, students are subject to misinformation, disinformation, and AI-generated content, some lawmakers discussed media bias and information literacy.
Safety continued to be a major topic. The governor signed into law new policy that requires schools to report to all parents any infringement of weapons policies, even those that are unintended. The Safe2Say program continued to improve, giving students an anonymous venue to voice concerns about issues like suicide or school violence. Still, one analysis from the conservative policy organization, the Commonwealth Foundation, found that 40% of the state’s schools were "persistently dangerous.”
The perennial fight for school choice, which is popular amongst voters, continued, once again left off the table by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget proposal. Scholarship programs for students in low-performing schools were floated in a bipartisan senate bill. The state’s existing tax credit program turned students away from lifeline scholarships.
