Contraction of Pennsylvania’s university system

“Pennsylvania’s 14-university state system is feeling the burn of budget cuts and declining enrollment with little relief in sight,” observes Inside Higher Ed in a lead story today.

Here are some highlights of the disaster that’s unfolding among those institutions that comprise the 110,000-student Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). Note that many of these dynamics are unfolding in other states, too.

Another shoe falls in Pennsylvania

East Stroudsburg University is the latest institution in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) to announce major layoffs in the face of an eroding financial situation in public higher education in the Northeast, according to this report in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. What’s this mean for students?

Restructuring of higher ed in PA continues

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Mansfield University, one of the 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), is the latest Pennsylvania public university to announce major cutbacks this year. Reportedly, about 20% of its tenured and tenure-track faculty will be let go — 29 full-time faculty in all. An additional 25 staff positions will be cut.

Major cuts at Edinboro University

Edinboro University (Pa.) has become the latest institution to announce major cutbacks in the face of declining enrollment. More than 40 faculty members and an additional 13 staff personnel will be cut. In addition, five programs will be “placed in moratorium”: German, music, music education, philosophy, and world languages and cultures. This announcement comes on the heels of major cutbacks at nearly Clarion University (see this post). Cutbacks at some of the other universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) should be anticipated.

Bleak times at Clarion University are a sign of the times

“It is very bleak here at Clarion [University],” says Elizabeth MacDaniel, head of the faculty union at the university (quoted in this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story today).

Rough road ahead for PA universities

Yesterday I focused on the enrollment challenges at private nonprofit colleges and the ways applicants and their parents can ensure the most favorable price. Today the focus shifts to public universities.

In an earlier post, I mentioned the expected enrollment shortfall at Central Michigan University. It’s obvious that the falloff in admissions wouldn’t be restricted to CMU or Michigan, however. Reports of similar situations will trickle out over the next few months. One such report surfaced this past weekend.

In this report by the TribLive News, we learn that faculty and staff at six of the 14 universities within the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) have been warned of possible layoffs, which means, of course, that enrollment erosion at those universities has continued if not accelerated.