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.

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.