Pitt requests increase in state funding

Pitt has asked the state legislature for an 11.3 percent increase in funding next year, though… Pitt has asked the state legislature for an 11.3 percent increase in funding next year, though the requested increase would not keep students’ tuitions flat.

Pitt officials said that they are unsure whether or not the University will actually receive the increase that they requested in September. As a state-related university, Pitt submits a funding request each year to the state and until last year, state dollars made up about 10 percent of Pitt’s budget.

If the state approves the requested increase in money, Pitt spokesman John Fedele said that the University will limit the 2012-2013 tuition increase to four percent. Pitt officials made similar statements about tuition last year when they submitted their requests, before receiving a 22 percent state funding cut and increasing tuition by 8.5 percent for in-state students.

Paul Supowitz, Pitt’s vice chancellor for governmental relations, said that the University should receive an answer from the Commonwealth by late May or early June.

Pennsylvania’s fiscal year runs from July to June, and the budget appropriations for Pitt and the other three state-related universities is decided in a separate bill from the main state budget. The bill must be approved by both state legislatures and then signed by the governor.

“There’s really no way to predict what the economic climate will become next May or June when it’s time to pass the state budget,” Supowitz said.

“Because of that, we really make the request based upon what the University’s basic needs are, so that’s how it’s formulated, and in that regard, it is certainly realistic with regard to the University’s needs.”

In 2010, Pitt asked for a five percent increase in funding but received a 22 percent cut instead. Because of the cuts, the University received $136 million in funding, down from $184 million in 2010 that included almost $20 million in temporary federal stimulus funds.

The state appropriation went through a number of dramatic changes over the summer, beginning with Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposal to cut 52 percent of

Pitt’s funding. This figure was then negotiated down to 22 percent and signed the day before the constitutionally mandated deadline.

Pitt will also restore all funding to the programs affected by the 50 percent decrease in state funding from the Department of Welfare this year, including the Academic Medical Center, Pitt’s School of Medicine, the dental clinic, the Center for Public Health Practice and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.

Fedele said that Pitt requested the increase in funding in an effort to restore last year’s cut to Pitt’s state appropriation. When requesting the increase in funding, Pitt officials took into account the four percent overall reduction in the Commonwealth’s budget last year as well as an adjustment for inflation.

“We recognize that the Commonwealth faced a daunting shortfall for fiscal year 2012,” Fedele said in an email. “But Pitt was asked to shoulder more than our fair share of the burden required for the Commonwealth to meet its budget, and meeting this appropriation request will address that inequality.”