They will never close it as it is the nations 1st HBCU. It is a beautiful school that has produced some amazing grads. It will be interesting to see how this evolves.
Tennessee is expanding its free community college program, funded by the lottery. I could never see PA doing this.
PA should. First two years free at PASSHE and CC. Paid by the State to all students with a B average (PASSHE) or C+ average (CC) + a “Reconnect” program for all adults at CC’s.
I agree, people in PA have forgotten that about 15 years ago, in today’s dollars, tuition at Penn State was $7,000.
That could work well, and have students pay for room and board. I’m not usually a big fan of free govt everything, but PA is already so far behind. If necessary, if would be in favor of consolidating the failing PASSHE schools or combining with CCs.
Dd got a mailing from Clarion this week and I thought of all of you.
in NJ they have something called the Stars program and the Stars 2
If top 15% rank in high school you are eligible for first two years of CC free. If you have a 3.25 GPA after second year then you are eligible for $2500 dollars towards next two years at any state university in NJ and some privates as well.
Sad thing is very few students take advantage of this program including my own
@fleishmo6 My d is eligible for Stars and I have thought about it. The issue is that she is eligible for merit scholarships as a freshman that would bring the price way down at our local publics. She would miss that if she did Stars. It still might bring the cost over four years down to a lower amount but not by all that much.
@MACmiracle
Yeah I agree with you. It seems many of the top students in NJ tend not to stay in state even with much merit money.
So far, two of my three went OOS will see what happens with 4th.
For students who qualify for freshman merit scholarships, STARS is not worth it at all - they relinquish way more than what they earn. It’d only matter for kids who will commute to a local public university anyway and don’t have test scores for merit scholarships, but are top 15% (perhaps because their school is low-performing, or because their schools uses unweighted ranking…)
Enrollment at IUP…
https://www.indianagazette.com/news/indiana-news/enrollment-at-iup-projected-to-level-off,26329752/
PA state colleges are a gateway to opportunity…
http://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2017/05/pas_state-owned_colleges_are_a.html
The article doesn’t really say (other than the new doctorate program), what IUP is doing differently to stabilize enrollment next year.
I believe the decline in enrollment is basically due to the fact that we have fewer high school grads in western PA as population has declined. It seems as the outlook for the number of grads has stabilized and will be around the same for the next few years.
This has been a great thread to follow.
So how many posters, if you would care to share, have kids actually going to PASSHE schools?
Shippensburg hires new president…
http://www.pennlive.com/news/2017/05/shippensburg_universitys_next.html#incart_2box_news
One of interest…How Colleges Know What You Can Afford (and the Limits of That Tactic)
@laralei. That is a great question! I like this thread because it not only discusses PASSHE schools but their nearby alternatives. I’ve learned a lot!
@laralei My daughter will be a freshman at West Chester starting in late August.
Congratulations 
@laralei My son will be starting his sophomore year at Bloomsburg and my daughter will be a freshman at Bama this fall! Go Huskies! Roll Tide!!
I think West Chester, Bloomsburg, possibly Slippery Rock or Shippensburg are very real possibilities for my D19 - still too early to tell, but she’s a solid B student and I don’t envision a ton of merit aid coming our way – or need-based aid that actually translates into something usable – as our EFC is likely to be $30k or above, which is way more than we can actually pay.
Of course, she loved Sewanee and University of Florida when we visited them over spring break. I would love to be able to afford to send her to either of those schools (though the massive concentration of Greek life that looms over everything at Sewanee gives me pause).
@Portercat where is your daughter going??? My son decided to stay in state at Rowan after seriously considering Millersville and Bloomsburg. As an added bonus, I found out after the fact that because he decided to stay in state we are eligible for a $1500 scholarship for his 1st semester because we’ve been contributing to a 529 for over 12 years! I’ll take whatever I can get!