Senate passes annual funding bill, Pitt to receive flat funding for third year

The Pennsylvania state Senate passed Pitt’s annual funding bill on Friday, sending it to Gov. Tom Wolf’s desk. The University is set to receive flat funding of $151,507,000, which would be the third year in a row that Pitt would receive the same level of funding.

Pitt, through its status as a state-related University, receives an annual state appropriation to offset some tuition costs for in-state students and for rural education programs. The University requested a 5.5% increase in funding for next year, and it is unclear how Pitt will resolve the multimillion-dollar hole in its budget, since it received less than it asked for.

After state funding is locked in and final adjustments are made to the University budget, the next step is getting approval from Pitt’s Board of Trustees. The Board’s budget and executive committees will both review the budget in June and July, and then vote to approve it in mid-July. In the case of any changes to student fees, the Board’s student affairs committee will review and vote on those. Following these approvals, the University controller’s office, which is responsible for the budget, among other things, will distribute final budget instructions to all operating units beginning in early August through September.