Budget cuts anger campus students
Students at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, say they don’t plan to accept the governor’s proposed education cuts without a fight – especially if it means saving their campus.
Gov. Tom Corbett announced Tuesday his first spending plan that recommends $650 million in cuts from higher education, resulting in a decrease in state funding for Penn State University of more than 50 percent, or $182 million.
At a press conference Wednesday, Penn State President Graham Spanier responded to the proposed budget announcement, stating, if passed, the deep cuts could have a “devastating vision for higher education in Pennsylvania.” For the state’s flagship university, Spanier warned, the result could be significant budget cuts, including layoffs, a rise in unemployment, tuition increases and the possibility of closing some of the university’s two-dozen branch campuses.
“We can’t sit by and just let them make these cuts in education. If we don’t say anything and we get stuck with that 50 percent in cuts, then it’s on us,” said Steve Wilt, a senior English major and diversity chairman for the Student Government Association at the Fayette Campus. “If there was any time that the students needed to be heard, it’s now.”
Wilt, of Mount Pleasant, said students plan to fight back and raise their voices concerning the budget cuts issue.
“Penn State should bear it’s fair share of the cuts, but 50 percent is just overkill in my opinion,” Wilt said. “Honestly, it breaks my heart as well as fuels the fire to do something in order to get the students heard. It’s going to take more than just the Fayette Campus. Something is going to have to come from every branch – even the other schools that are affected by the possible cuts. But we will do something.”
In addition to Penn State, the governor’s proposed budget cuts in higher education will affect the 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, as well as the University of Pittsburgh, and Temple and Lincoln universities.
Penn State Fayette student Tania Bosley of Uniontown said the local campus is her only option for higher education because of a demanding schedule that includes working full time, raising a family and attending classes in the evening. She said she also depends on the state funding to help pay for her schooling.
“If I lost that money due to all these cuts, it would put too much of a financial burden on me to continue,” she said. “And I also chose this campus because it was the most convenient. Going anywhere else just doesn’t make sense for me, and I imagine that’s the same for a lot of people in my situation. The reality is, if this campus would have to close, there would be a lot of people who would not seek higher education here in this area.”
Perhaps the students who could be most affected by the ramifications of the proposed budget cuts are freshman like Alison Reagan, who have years of schooling ahead.
Reagan said she’s angered by the decision to cut education funding as much as Corbett has proposed and is worried about her future at Penn State Fayette.
“I get grants and scholarships this year to attend, and if the budget is cut that much, I probably won’t get as much money next year,” she said. “I am trying to focus on my grades as much as possible, but if I have a tuition increase and don’t get as much money, I will have to work while in school, and I am afraid that will lower my grades.”
Susan Brimo-Cox, director of marketing and communications for Penn State Fayette, said she couldn’t comment on the issue and referred all questions to the public information office at the main campus.
Spanier said Wednesday that most of the state’s subsidy to Penn State is used to maintain a tuition rate for in-state residents that is lower than the tuition rate for out-of-state students.
He said with the cuts, the in-state rates would inevitably rise.
“And it could push the cost of a Penn State education out of reach for the out-of-state students,” he said.
Spanier said the entire burden resulting from proposed education cuts will not be placed on the shoulders of the students and their families, but significant changes at the university will have to occur to keep that from happening.
“This budget will force the university to put everything on the table,” he said. “You can’t take a cut of this magnitude, even half this magnitude, and retain all the employees you have. We did not have a contingency plan that wiped out half of our appropriation. We are now busy working along those lines.”