<p>Pitt</a> among those affected by state budget freeze - Pittsburgh Business Times</p>
<p>Governor Corbett today announced another 5% cut to funding for Penn State and other state-related and state-owned universities, in addition to the 20% funding cut that went into effect a few months ago.</p>
<p>Officially, it is a freeze, not a permanent cut, but considering he tried to cut all of the funding by 50%, I believe the money is gone.</p>
<p>In addition, he froze 5% of the funding to PHEAA, which funds state grants directly to college students.</p>
<p>How bad does this sound and what are the implications? Will the quality of education decrease? What will happen?</p>
<p>The biggest problems occur when large budget cuts occur with little warning. It does not allow time for a university to prepare. The immediate result is usually a hiring freeze, in which profs who leave or retire are not replaced, even if they are really needed. This leads to larger classes or unavailability of some classes. While Penn State has a large budget with many aspects, most non-academic areas are self-supporting. The state funding mainly goes to core academic costs. </p>
<p>The politicians will try to tell you that state funding is a small percentage of the total expenses when you include athletics, the airport, the golf courses, housing, dining halls, etc. However, state funding is an important part of keeping in-state tuition from going way way up. Penn State and Pitt already have the two highest in-state tuition rates among public colleges in the US.</p>
<p>According to Kiplinger’s Best Values in Public Colleges (Top 100):
Pitt is 29th and PSU 51st. Not too bad.
[Best</a> Values in Public Colleges, 2011-12](<a href=“http://www.kiplinger.com/tools/colleges/]Best”>Best College Values, 2019 | Kiplinger)</p>