Lawmakers, Education Officials Try to Fund Universities

By Caleb Taylor | PA Independent

Lawmakers and education officials support Pennsylvania universities raising funds privately to avoid tuition hikes, but some argue these efforts would take the focus away from instruction.

The 14 public universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, or PASSHE, are prevented from engaging in private fundraising because of the Adverse Interest Act. The 1957 law prohibits the PASSHE universities from:

• Contracting with their faculty and staff who have developed services or intellectual property for the financial benefit of the university and the state.
• Being directly involved with not-for-profit foundations that use fundraising to generate revenue for universities.

State Sen. Andrew Dinniman, D-Chester, minority chairman of the Senate Education Committee, is sponsoring Senate Bill 1221 that seeks to remove the latter provision. 

“This is an attempt to change those mandates that deprive our state-owned universities of the necessary funds that are not taxpayer funds,” said Dinniman, who added that his bill would result in savings for PASSHE and “more-limited increases in tuition.” 

State Sen. Tommy Tomlinson, R-Bucks, is considering introducing legislation that would repeal the former provision, but his proposal has not been introduced officially. 

However, these proposals could cripple classroom instruction, because universities would be “chasing research dollars” instead of focusing on teaching students, said Steve Hicks, president of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, or APSCUF, a union that represents 6,000 PASSHE faculty members.

Hicks made his comments during a recent Senate Education Committee hearing.

Hicks said any plan that would cause faculty members to be pressured to put research dollars ahead of teaching students "is clearly not in their best interest." 

State Sen. Jeff Piccola, R-Dauphin, said these proposed measures would help PASSHE universities deal with the budget cuts. 

The 14 PASSHE universities by 7.5 percent because of a 14.5 percent, or about $70 million, cut in state aid in fiscal 2011. 

“It gives them flexibility to raise money from private sources, to raise money in entrepreneurial ways,” Piccola said.