Shapiro promotes higher ed 'blueprint' as GOP seeks details on potential cost

Mar. 7—WEST CHESTER — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro wants to reorganize how higher education is delivered in the commonwealth while Republican lawmakers have called out in budget hearings for definitive details as to how his plan might be accomplished.

During a visit to West Chester University on Thursday, Shapiro stressed that Pennsylvania ranks 48th in affordability and 49th in investment in higher education. He blamed it on three decades of "disinvestment" and said his "Blueprint for Higher Education" would turn around the commonwealth's standing and bolster a workforce currently short by an estimated 61,000 workers who hold post-secondary credentials.

"I am competitive as hell and I want Pennsylvania to win at everything, and right now we are not winning when it comes to higher ed," Shapiro said.

The blueprint is three-pronged:

* Build out a new system with a singular governing body incorporating the 10 schools of Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education and the commonwealth's 15 community colleges.

* Charge no more than $1,000 each semester for tuition and fees under this new system for Pennsylvanians with a household income up to the median level, roughly $70,000.

* Raise the commonwealth's contributions to higher education institutions — 15% for PASSHE schools and community colleges and 5% for state-related universities, that is, Penn State, Pitt, Temple and Lincoln.

West Chester University President Christopher Fiorentino said there's a "glaring gap" between available jobs and the skilled workers needed to fill them. He said about 60% of jobs in the state require some level of post-secondary education but only 51% of Pennsylvania's working class hold some level of degree or certification.

Shapiro's $48.3 billion budget plan went through intense scrutiny in the state House and Senate over the past three weeks. The plan includes a request of $975 million for the proposed new higher education system, an increase of $1,000 for each financial aid grant awarded to students living below the median income and $279 million to limit the debt load students take on.

Kate Shaw, deputy secretary and commissioner of Postsecondary and Higher Education, Pennsylvania Department of Education, testified before the House Appropriations Committee that the blueprint will push higher education institutions to develop programs more responsive to workforce needs across the commonwealth.

Without a new approach, she said the workforce would be short 218,000 workers with post-secondary credentials in eight years.

"That is an untenable situation for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania if we want to be a world-class economy, attract high-wage workers and keep people in the commonwealth," Shaw said Tuesday in the state House, adding that related legislation for the blueprint is anticipated "within the next month or so."

The statutory deadline for a budget is June 30.

University leaders who testified at budget hearings had little to share in the way of how their respective institutions would adjust within the governor's blueprint. Lawmakers seized on the lack of details as the Shapiro administration has publicly released a 12-page overview and not a fuller plan.

"It's not a blueprint. It's not even a framework. It's three big ideas," Rep. James Struzzi, R-Indiana, said last week. "We need to get to some real numbers real soon in order to get these educational entities moving forward."

Rep. Kristin Marcell, R-Bucks, said during a budget hearing Thursday that the plan feels rushed and that it lacks input from stakeholders including legislators and universities and colleges.

"We didn't put forth every word, dot every I and cross every T of our plan," Shapiro said during the West Chester event, noting criticism from Republicans. "Had I come out with all that detail they would have complained they weren't part of the process of writing up that detail."