2006-07 BUDGET PRESENTATION
Penn State is many things to many people. For more than 80,000 students matriculating at 24 locations across the Commonwealth, Penn State provides unparalleled access to knowledge and skills, social mobility, and a brighter future.
For business and industry, Penn State’s nearly $638 million research program helps unfold new frontiers of knowledge, new products and new businesses. For the citizens of Pennsylvania, Penn State Outreach activities reach half of the households in Pennsylvania with everything from 4-H and farm advice to continuing education and public broadcasting.
And, for the commonwealth, the University provides the single largest impact on economic growth of any enterprise in the state, producing a total economic impact of more than $6.1 billion and an induced impact of an additional $7 billion.
Despite the University’s vast social and economic importance, state budget difficulties have
led to a current year appropriation that is less than what the University received in 2001. The appropriation
cutbacks that have occurred since the turn of the century have forced tuition increases that threaten access
for many Pennsylvanians, primarily at the campus locations.
The 2006-07 budget request from the University seeks to address this issue. Penn State is seeking an appropriation increase from the Commonwealth of 10 percent for the University’s Educational Springhouse at Penn State Abington and General line item. An increase is also included for the Pennsylvania College of Technology (Penn College). In return, the University would freeze tuition for nearly 37,000 students at 20 undergraduate campus locations at the current 2005-06 levels, and hold the tuition increase at University Park to 5.9 percent for Pennsylvania resident students.
A 10 percent increase in the Educational and General line item, plus the requested increase for Penn College, totals $28,354,000. Cost-of-living increases to the University’s other line items, covering such things as Agricultural Research, Cooperative Extension, and Medical Education would entail approximately $2.5 million, and bring the total requested appropriation increase to $30,872,000, or 9.5 percent overall.
These funds will be used to help support basic operating cost increases, with emphasis on escalating health care costs, deferred maintenance and facilities improvements, and modest faculty and staff salary adjustments.
Over the past decade, Penn State has aggressively trimmed budgets, producing over $139 million in budget reallocations. Penn State is ranked as one of the most efficient universities in America. We remain committed to cost containment and belt-tightening measures and expect to reallocate an additional $8.1 million in the coming budget year. The University cannot continue to cut, however, and still provide the access and economic vitality so critical to the Commonwealth’s future.
The budget request that the University submitted will make the University and the Commonwealth partners in an effort to assure continued access and affordability for the citizens of our state, while also ensuring the level of quality that Pennsylvanians have come to expect from their Land-Grant University. An appropriation increase of $30,872,000, with a corresponding freeze in tuition at the 20 undergraduate campus locations outside of University Park, will make Penn State and the Commonwealth partners in the greatest investment that could be made for the future of Pennsylvania.
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