Students speak out against funding cuts

Proposed state budget cuts that would cause Pitt’s tuition to rise sparked an outcry among… Proposed state budget cuts that would cause Pitt’s tuition to rise sparked an outcry among students, administrators and legislators over spring break.

The cuts, part of Gov. Tom Corbett’s first budget, amount to almost $900 million in education spending and would reduce Pitt’s $185 million appropriation by more than half, to $80.2 million. State legislators will hold hearings on the budget throughout April, before setting a date to vote on it.

Accounting for inflation, the appropriation —which accounted for 9 percent of Pitt’s budget this year— would be the smallest Pitt has received since becoming state-related in the 1960s. And Pitt will also lose more than $10 million in federal funds this coming year.

Chancellor Mark Nordenberg said during a news conference last week that Pitt would definitely have to increase tuition if the cuts pass, but it will try to keep those increases in “manageable ranges.” Nordenberg said it was too early to know what programs would be affected by the cut, though the University would look to every program for cuts. It will attempt to avoid layoffs, he said.

Student Government Board president Molly Stieber said the proposed cuts were by no means a shock. “Its what the governor campaigned on,” she said, adding that she hopes students will rally against them. “We still have time to show Harrisburg how we feel about this,” Stieber said.

Students react to proposed cuts

Though the University was still on break when the news broke, a number of students, administrators and legislators across the state have already joined to oppose the cuts. Much of the opposition has lined up on Facebook and other websites.

The most prolific social media outcry was one started by Pitt senior Nick Brink. The neuroscience major launched the “GOV CORBETT 50% Appropriation Reduction for Higher Education — UNACCEPTABLE” Facebook event hours after Corbett’s budget proposal Tuesday.

Reaching beyond Pitt to students at Penn State, Temple and Lincoln universities — which also receive money from the state as an incentive to keep tuition lower for in-state students — and the 14 state-run universities, the event has become a center for people opposing the proposed cuts.

What started with a few dozen invites to friends at Pitt became some 5,000 across the state by midday Wednesday, and more than 60,000 by Sunday.

Comments on the page ranged from paragraphs-long arguments about the benefits of education to short collections of expletives. The event page has also provided a forum for comments from the minority of users in favor of the cuts.

Brink worked with student leaders to develop a website for the Coalition of Pennsylvania Students — organized and launched in response to the cuts. The group advocates for the 18 universities affected by the cuts and links to a petition created by Pitt’s Graduate & Professional Student Assembly.

GPSA President Nila Devanath worked with Brink on the Facebook event and helped launch the petition, which is meant for all students in the state. The GPSA website also includes a space that allows students to e-mail their state legislators, their parents’ legislators and Corbett’s office about the issue.

Devanath said she would be happy with 1,000 signatures, though it would only be one part of the coalition’s opposition of the budget. She said she was working with University officials to coordinate protests of the cuts.

Pitt had prepared for some funding loss; it launched a website immediately after the announcement that touted the University’s achievements and effect on the community. In an e-mail sent to parents and students Tuesday, Nordenberg called the cuts a “severe and unfair burden on our students and their families.”

One initiative already in motion is Pitt Day in Harrisburg on April 5, which will provide an opportunity for students, faculty, administrators and alumni to meet with members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Last month, students from the state-related schools gathered in Harrisburg to raise awareness about their universities and their impact on surrounding communities.

Officials from Pitt and the other state-related universities will go in front of the Appropriations Committee of the legislature on March 28 to advocate against the cuts.

Pennsylvannia’s and Pitt’s budget problems

It is unclear what effects that the protests might have on the potential cuts — and what effects those cuts might have on Pitt students, beyond tuition increases. The proposed budget needs to gain approval by the state legislature before becoming law; but, both chambers are controlled by Republicans, who in past years have advocated for less state spending.

Pitt officials have said it is too early to say how the University would be affected by the cuts, beyond saying that there would be a tuition hike. Penn State President Graham Spanier said in a statement Wednesday that the proposed cuts would likely force the University to close some of its 19 branch campuses.

Pitt spokesman John Harvith said that the University does not plan to close any of the regional campuses if the cuts go through, although he said that the University did not have any details beyond that.

In Corbett’s first budget address as governor, given Tuesday morning, the Republican said that perennial tuition increases were a sign that the current system for funding higher education was not working. Pitt’s tuition has risen by at least 2 percent for the past five years, and went up by 5 percent this year for in-state students.

“This fiscal crisis is a time to rethink state spending on higher education,” Corbett said. “Despite state subsidies on higher education, tuition has continued to increase. If the intent was to keep tuition rates down, we failed.”

In a statement issued with the budget, Corbett said the cuts were meant to hold universities “accountable for spending and performance.” His proposed budget did not include any measures for reform in higher education, such as introducing merit pay or transparency measures, which Corbett did propose for K-12 education.

The governor’s spokesman, Kevin Harley, said this budget would be the first step in changing the formula on funding for higher education in the future. He said that Corbett wanted to fund the students rather than the institutions, which he said have not been held accountable for yearly tuition increases.

“We had a $4.1 billion deficit to close. We have to find money to close that,” he said. “Pitt, Temple, Penn State and Lincoln are going to have to tighten their belts.”

Harley said that Corbett wanted to have money follow the students to various state institutions using the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, which provides scholarships and grants to students from Pennsylvania. The budget proposal called for a $30 million cut in that agency’s $440 million budget.

Corbett called the $27.3 billion, 1,100-page proposal a “reality-based budget.” It includes no tax increases — in line with his campaign promises — and cuts state spending to 2008 levels.

The budget proposal included a number of other initiatives, like cutting the state’s capital and supply taxes and creating a task force that would examine privatizing the state’s liquor stores. It also included a continuation of the film tax credit, which Corbett said would help to bring jobs and money into local economies.

State Sen. Jay Costa, the Democratic floor leader and a member of Pitt’s Board of Trustees, said that Democrats had a number of concerns about the budget. He said in comments to the Pennsylvania Cable Network, a nonprofit cable television network, that the budget cuts to higher education were “draconian.”

“This budget is balanced on the backs of working people,” he said.

Corbett emphasized that the budget is intended to rein in spending and balance the budget while preventing tax increases.

Brink disagreed, though. He said that although it is necessary for some cuts to happen, 50 percent was too much.

“The deficit is a big deal and everyone should tighten the belts,” he said. “Although I feel like they have tightened the belts on students too tightly and let other people off the hook.”

Senior Staff Writers Gwenn Barney and Marissa Meredyth contributed to this report.