Last spring, Governor Tom Corbett and his Republican majority in the state government waged war against its public institutions of higher learning. Appropriations cuts of up to 50% were announced, which would've caused a catastrophic increase in tuition for the nearly hundred thousand students in the Penn State system, not to mention those at fellow state-related schools like Temple, Pittsburgh, and Lincoln, or the PASSHE colleges. However, this fall, our tuition payments were more in line with what they've been the past few years.
With a 19% final reduction in state appropriations, how Penn State managed to keep this year's tuition increase about 10% lower than it has been on average over the past 5 years is an interesting and complex story.
Penn State President Graham Spanier sent out an email blast to all faculty and staff after a budget containing a 19% cut to the university's appropriation was passed by the State legislature. The budget now only awaits signature by Gov. Tom Corbett. Check it out in full after the jump.
Last night, The University Park Undergraduate Association held its final General Assembly of this academic year. The Assembly had an agenda filled to the brim in order to get everything in before they break for finals, and then summer.
We received a copy of the Core Council's review of the College of the Liberal Arts and have posted it below for review. The Core Council is Penn State's strategic review committee, headed by Provost Rod Erickson, that has been tasked with identifying about $10 million in annual savings.
Check it out after the jump.
The Internal Development Committee of the University Park Undergraduate Association met last night to discuss and finalize the UPUA budget submitted by President T.J. Bard and Vice President Courtney Lennartz. In addition to the Committee, many members of the UPUA Assembly and Executive Board attended the meeting. The budget passed the committee unanimously and will be brought to the floor of the Assembly next Wednesday.