PA House Appropriations — 2026-03-11

We're about to get started.

Thank you. I'm Brenda Allen, President of Lincoln University. First of all, I want to thank all the members here today for allowing us to be here and to talk about our institutions. The Commonwealth has been very kind to my institution over the course of many years, and we are so grateful for that support, both in our state appropriation and in our capital budget. the state's investment in Lincoln University has really helped it to continue to grow and to invest in the education of populations that may go underserved because of background. As you all know, Lincoln University was founded in 1854, 10 years before the emancipation of the race, as the first degree-granting historically black college in the nation. The bold mission of Lincoln University was even more profound in that our founders believed that investing in a liberal arts education to men of African descent would really help to create the kind of leadership for people who, 10 years after its founding, were leaders in moving the race into the middle of society. Lincoln University has great value to the Commonwealth and especially great value to the county in which we sit. We're the largest employer in that region. We generate about $294 million in economic impact in our area. We create 1,054 jobs based upon the work we do. and for every $1 spent by Lincoln University and its students, we generate $1.70 in economic benefit for the community. Lincoln also stands as one of the nation's top institutions for social mobility. More than 90% of our students are first in their families to attend college. Nearly 70% of them are Pell eligible. Yet despite these challenges, Lincoln ranks in the top 50% of institutions nationwide. for moving students upward economically. And in 2017, a study identified Lincoln as number one in Pennsylvania for lifting individuals from the lowest to the highest economic brackets. These outcomes, we think, affirm a simple point. Where a student starts does not determine how they will go. What matters is education and the support they receive along the way. While we remain deeply committed to our mission, we face significant pressures that are affecting our ability to sustain operations at the level our students deserve. Primary is that many of our institutions, and Lincoln included, are experiencing enrollment declines as the result of population decrease, but also the lasting effects of the COVID pandemic. Secondly, there's been a loss of critical experiential learning opportunities for our students because of some of the confusion with the anti from the federal government but it also confounded with endorsement of HBCUs And so many of our partners don know how to interpret anti versus endorsement in HBCUs And as a result, many of the opportunities that our students have with corporations and federal agencies have actually stopped because individuals don't know whether or not something will violate a law. So in this budget, we're just really asking for an increase to help us to make up some of that difference. A big part of it is increasing energy costs and other kinds of just basic costs for running an institution. But we also have to continue to invest in scholarships for our Pennsylvania residents, again, with 90% of our students being first in their families to go to college, and 70% of them being eligible, closing the gap between what they can get in financial aid and what their families can afford becomes really very crucial. We are also finding ourselves having to make up some of the difference in the lack of partnerships that we have because of the confusion with the federal government. And so as a liberal arts institution, those co-curricular opportunities are vital for the education that we offer our students. And so we want to make sure that they continue to have the opportunity to use theory in the workplace or in undergraduate research. And because we can't get those in grants in the way that we used to, we need to be able to offset that lag. And finally, just investing in faculty and staff, IT infrastructure with AI coming in. It's really putting more pressure on what we need to have in terms of our information technology infrastructure. And so more dollars to investing that is what we are really asking for. So I thank you again for your pass of court and for the opportunity to speak today. With your continued investment, Link University will remain a place where first-generation students from low-income backgrounds can graduate and move into economic mobility, upward economic mobility, and reach the aspirations. And those outcomes are always good for the Commonwealth because many of our students stay here and continue to invest and contribute to the economic growth of Pennsylvania. So thank you.

Good morning everyone I'm John Fry, President of Temple University. I'm honored to be here today to address you on behalf of the University. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is instrumental in helping Temple fulfill its mission of ensuring that students from all backgrounds and all places receive access to the high quality affordable education that is a hallmark of our institution I am very grateful for the support you provide to both Temple and our state-related peers Penn State, Pitt and Lincoln and to each of you I say thank you. A stronger and more competitive Temple in Pennsylvania go hand in hand and can be seen within the districts represented by committee members who are here with us today. Within your districts alone, there are more than 55,000 Temple students, employees, and alumni. So this is a time of great momentum at Temple. Earlier this year, we launched our strategic plan, Forward with Purpose, which will serve as our compass now and through our 150th anniversary in 2034. The plan underscores Temple's role as a trusted partner in Philadelphia and throughout the Commonwealth, and we are deeply committed to working alongside others and doing our part to help drive meaningful progress in education and economic development. To achieve this, we are focusing on three priorities, student success, research and action, and place-based impact. Some of this work is already underway. Student success is at the heart of everything we do, and we have intensified our efforts in this area. This past fall, we welcomed the largest ever first-year undergraduate class in our 141-year history, with 63 percent of those new students hailing from right here in Pennsylvania and 48 percent of these students being the first in their families to attend college. We are committed to enhancing the infrastructure that supports our students and ensures they stay on a path to graduation, and a life of opportunity and success after Temple. The centerpiece of research and action is the development of a multidimensional innovation corridor along Broad Street in Philadelphia to spur research and technology commercialization that will stretch from our Health Sciences Campus to our main campus, and then south along Broad Street to the Avenue of the Arts, and the new home of our Center City Campus, Terra Hall. Our place-based strategy is evident through our commitment to enhancing public safety in our community. We recently shared the results of an independent staffing study conducted for our Department of Public Safety. As a result, we plan to significantly scale up our operations and hire more than 30 patrol officers and supervisors over the next five years. Our commitment to fostering economic mobility and workforce development can also be seen throughout the Commonwealth. This fall, we will open a state-of-the-art dental clinic and education center in Tamaqua, which will be key to providing rural Pennsylvanians with access to high-quality dental services. Similarly, our Lewis Katz School of Medicine is expanding its impact across the Commonwealth. We will soon establish a new regional medical campus in York in collaboration with WellSpan, creating a pipeline of health care providers to serve this important area of the state. We have already seen the benefits of this model through our partnership with St. Luke's, through which we opened the first and only four-year medical school in the Lehigh Valley. These are just a few examples of the important work we are pursuing to implement our strategic plan. It is work that we could never have accomplished without your support. So once again, I want to thank you for the opportunity to be here today and express my gratitude for your continued partnership to enable the success of Temple students. Thank you.

All right. Thank you all. We're going to start with Representative Sanchez.

I'm not a PhD, so just for the record here, thank you. Thanks for the promotion. I appreciate it. It's definitely not deserved. So Temple has been through a lot over the last decade. In 2017, our enrollment crested over 40,000. The day I started last year, it was a little over 30,000, 30,005 to be precise. So we've lost a lot of students. I'm going to talk about how we're building back enrollment in a second, but that necessitates aligning your expenses with your revenues when you've lost that much of your revenues, about almost 25%. So over the last eight years, we've taken about $300 million of expense out of the institution. Now, you can't cut your way to success and victory. On the other hand, stewardship is the watchword here, and we need to be responsible stewards. So we've initiated a significant number of painful cuts. Last year, my first year, we did close to $40 million. Right now, we have a number of specific initiatives in place on the administrative side and the academic side. Just one example to your question, we just completed a faculty early retirement program. 77 faculty accepted the program and the savings are $15 million in salary and benefits. So that's an example of some highly targeted work that we're doing to make sure that, you know, our faculty and our staff sort of align with where our enrollment is. We're looking at the four corners of the institution relative to expense reductions and at the same time I have good news relative to to our first-year class. Last year, in September, we welcomed the largest class in our history, 5,479, 48% of whom were the first in their families to go to college, 51% of whom were Pell-eligible. So last year and the year before, we had two record-breaking classes. This year, we're about 12% up in applications and over 10% up in deposits. So I can't tell you what the number is going to be right now, but I can tell you that we're starting to build back enrollment. It's going to take us many years to get to where we need to be. I'd be very happy if we eventually got ourselves into the 33,000 to 35,000 level. This, by the way, excludes our work in Japan. We have three campuses in Japan, one in Rome. That accounts for another close to 4,000 students. But the number I'm working with right now is about 29,500. That's the domestic enrollment. That's what we're sort of focused on right now. And so from a revenue standpoint, I think between that, the outstanding performance of our endowment, which is a top decile endowment, and two very, very strong years of recent fundraising, we're starting to make it back on the revenue side. But right now we're under intense pressure to continue to look at the expense side, to continue to balance our budget without using too many of our reserves. So it's a tight position now. I hope to be able to report back to you in the years to come that we're continuing to make progress on that.

It's been 14 months, although it often feels like two years or more. But I would say that first is that I think we have a very, very clear plan of what we need to do. We basically are focused on Broad Street from Center City to the edge of our health sciences campus. That's about five miles. We're not attempting to develop all of Broad Street in those areas, but around the three nodes of Center City Campus, Main Campus, Health Sciences Campus. We've made a couple of very important strategic acquisitions of properties that, frankly, have been trouble properties. Fair amount of crime around those. We've taken those over. We've cleaned those up. We're getting them ready for development. We have a couple of RFPs out right now to partner with qualified developers to help us make investments, particularly in some STEM-based commercial work that we're doing around some properties that can be renovated for science and for tech transfer. And then secondly, we'd like to construct another residence on campus because we really don't have enough beds on our campus, and I think that will contribute to the safety and the security of our environment. and also I think will help with retention. So we're testing the market right now. If we can get some third-party investments to come our way, I think that will be sort of early indication that this idea of an innovation corridor on Broad Street has some legs. But, again, you know, given our situation right now, we are completely reliant on making these partnerships, which I think is actually good for the soul of the institution because we get to work with others, get to exchange ideas with them. hopefully see their investment come our way. So I say right now the vision is clear We infilling with certain acquisitions of properties and we starting to test the development market and I keep you posted Great Thank you We look forward to that all coming to fruition Thank you.

Representative Mako.

We're still developing our budget. We are anticipating a tuition increase. We have held tuition increases below inflation for, we've measured back 10 years, so at least for that period of time.

which is resulting in a very heavy constraint on other strategic investments that we're able to make. The math is relatively clear that when you hold appropriations flat in an inflationary environment, expenses continue to go up, and we have to figure that out somehow, and so that has resulted in tuition increases.

We're in a range right now. We're working on our budget. Likewise, we're in a range of between 3.6 and 3.9 percent increases what we're looking at. Part of the reason we asked for 16 percent increase in appropriation is to eliminate that for in-state residents so we can charge nothing more than we charge right now. So that's the only focus of our increases to try to avoid passing that along to our students.

We moved to a two-year budget model because when budgets are delayed and being passed, it puts pressure on us, and for families, it creates uncertainty. So our budget rates for 26-27 have already been approved. What we are proud of is on our Commonwealth campuses, once again, we have no increases at all. That would be like the fourth year. But for our university park in-state, every year it's been sub-inflation. It will be about a 2% increase.

So, because we've kept all increases, sub-inflation, and we've seen no increases in appropriations.

I have been a strong proponent of performance-based funding everywhere I've been because it ties the goals of the Commonwealth, you as stewards of taxpayer dollars, and our mission and what we are trying to do. So very, very supportive of it. Eventually, I hope performance-based funding. First, we need to get the funding. Then we need to make it truly performance-based. And I'm very proud of the bipartisan work that was done.

I'm happy and proud to speak about this. Penn State has the first, oldest, continuously running nuclear reactor in the country. So we're very proud of that. It's 75 years. And so the next phase, of course, is these micro nuclear reactors. We are working on maybe partnering with Westinghouse and others. It's a very expensive proposition. But I think for Pennsylvania, given that we've had this history, investing in it would be very critical, and we're trying. We're trying to see where we can get there. I worry because other states that are appropriating more might beat us to it.

Thank the gentleman. Representative Kahn.

Yes.

I think yes.

Yes. Thank you. My second question, I talked to you some individually about what we're seeing, some of the political headwinds coming from Washington. We see that with H.R. 1 that was passed on July 4th of last year, reclassifying what's considered professional, a professional degree. I'm a nurse, as is representative from Lackawanna, Representative Kozorowski. and nursing apparently is no longer a professional degree according to hr1 also some people are surprised that can professions like architecture professions like being a physical therapist physician assistant is no longer or a social worker is no longer considered a professional degree can you talk about the impact that this has had on your students and also in the workforce that we're providing here in the Commonwealth? And what, if anything, you're able to do to sort of counteract those headwinds coming out of Washington?

We got the yellow light, so I think we only have one more, right? 14 seconds.

But on top of that, our Temple University health system is facing $520 million worth of cuts over the next 10 years. in Medicaid funding to an already poor population. So you take this and you add just the core funding for the six hospitals that we run underneath TUHS and, I mean, the impact of HR1 is devastating. I'm not being dramatic. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and welcome, everyone. It's always great to see you here. As a father of seven with four kids in college, you know, my wife, Sweet Sue, and I have really, We felt the pain. They're starting to launch, and they're starting to graduate with great careers. So we've had students attend a number of your universities and others. I'd like to dig a little bit deeper first in the area of the performance-based funding formula. President Gabel, you had mentioned the performance-based in your opening remarks, and placement rates I think are one of those metrics. It was great to hear 97%. The governor has $30 million proposed in his budget, and this is – it's a newer program, bipartisan. President Benedict Putty, you had mentioned that. Next Friday, the Performance-Based Funding Council begins to meet again. and have your universities been supplying the information that is needed to be able to start to look at how this formula is going to be moving forward? What have you found through this process, and have you been satisfied with where we are right now? I want to say, I'll affirm what President Ben DiPudi said, that I think this was a remarkably allied effort by bipartisan across the institutions. It's just really nice to see everyone on the same page. And so now we're excited to see it unfold. I think I know that you'll see some really clear outcomes as a result of the transparency and clarity with which the development of the formula relied upon. We have been very actively engaged in providing all the information asked of us and would obviously continue to very happily provide that information and advocacy. We're delighted to see it in the budget. We hope that that sticks, if you will. And we think what you'll see as a result is even more enrollment in the high-demand, high-workforce-need areas at manageable, affordable cost with good graduation rates and good placement, which is what we all want. That's great to hear. I know we're tight on time, so as we're advancing, I'm a believer in competition is healthy, you know, having those metrics and that priority. Would your universities be interested in for future funding or adjusting, you know, the current state-related funding, which is often very controversial in the chamber, to begin to roll out through the performance-based funding commission or portions of it? Absolutely. I think that's something we would all want to be part of in discussions, make sure that it's collegial and it's collaborative. But I genuinely like you. I believe that's the right thing, to send the signal to us on what matters to you and then to hold us accountable to it. That's all we ask for. That's great. Great to hear. Another new program that was bipartisan was the Grow PA scholarship. You know, it's new to Pennsylvania. I think it going to be right around million that are going to students for as you had mentioned these high careers That program is new as well So I wanted to specifically ask about the CIP codes or the classification of instructional programs From your point of view are there adjustments? I mean, I'm fortunate to serve on the FIA board. Everybody is learning. Are there some adjustments or tweaks that we may be able to make in this program moving forward? because it really seems to help families. I applaud the program. I think it's wonderful. It's exactly what we need. But sorry if I may have one minute to explain this. The CIP, which is very helpful to mark where a student is, is six digits. The first two are your major area. The second two are intermediate. The last two are the specific program you're going to. We discovered that by the way we code the CIP for some of our students, that they were not getting the money that they ought to in the pre-major level. Once they get to their majors, it's no problem because it's very clear what they're studying in the pre-major. So we are adjusting things internally at Penn State, as I'm sure my colleagues are. One ask of FIA is to also help us because some things, as with any system, it's not perfect. I will tell you that 14 is the CIP for engineering. So if it's 14.000, that's called engineering general. That is approved by FIA. But if it's 1.000, one is agriculture, that is not approved. So we need reform on our side to make sure we are coding it appropriately, but we also need help from FIA to change those when we are eager to work together. Yeah, that's great. It's a great program. I'm fully supportive. I see my red lights on, so thanks. I look forward to working with each of you in that area. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good morning, everybody. Admittedly, this is one of my favorite hearings, simply because I'm just a mom who happens to be now a legislator. But my work started out as a mom, a passionate mom, because I have yet to meet a mom who said they did not want the best for their children. And now that both my children are college age and one is attending one of your universities up there now, I will say it's important to make sure that we're creating spaces that the families can feel comfortable. And knowing that when we're sending our children out of the households, that they're also walking into a community of safety. So leading with that question and with the rise of so many concerns around student safety on campuses, can you tell us some of the efforts you're doing to ensure that the students are safe on your campuses? Let me start with the most fundamental, which is public safety. So we exist in a part of Philadelphia, North Philadelphia, which is high crime. And so one of the things that we did a number of years ago was hire former Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey to do a full audit of Temple University's public safety practices. He came back with 77 recommendations. We've implemented about 98 percent of those recommendations. We'll have the rest done this year. but probably the most important recommendation that was deferred in part because I think of some budget concerns was, you know, appropriate staffing for the Division of Public Safety. And so when I arrived last year, I had that study completed. We now initiated efforts to hire 29 patrol officers and about eight other supervisory officers from captains to sergeants to detectives It take us a number of years because it really hard to recruit and retain police right now but we're on the street with all sorts of opportunities. And then really importantly, Commissioner Kevin Bethel, our police commissioner in Philadelphia, on the strength of that is adding seven full-time people to the Temple campus and basically embedding them on our campus. So we're going to be up 40% in terms of policing, and that's before we even talk about, you know, security technology and all the other investments we're making in training for our students. But the thing I just want to say to you is that, to me, the most important thing, other than strong public safety, police, and security, is to make sure that our streets are active and engaged and full of people. And the way you do that is you develop. So we're also on a significant, as I pointed out before in a previous question, this innovation corridor is not just about progress in science and technology and economic development. It's about making these corridors safe. And in many cases, when stores are vacant and when there's not enough residences and things of that nature, those streets are daunting at night. And that's where we see a fair amount of the crime. And so we're working not only on safety in the traditional way, but improving the public and commercial environment as well. Those things together, based on my experience, especially in West Philadelphia, should yield some results, not tomorrow, but over time. Thank you.

All right. I'm going to let you other two. You can email me those answers. I just have one more really quick. One more question. 30 seconds. 30 seconds. So with the federal challenges continuing all your strides and creating the strong classrooms to career pipeline for students, how have the federal charges impacted the programs and initiatives thus far? All right, you can email me those questions as well. I'm happy to answer. I just want to make sure I understand in which you mean academic programs or safety programs whichever programs you are which are greatly impacted by the cuts or the challenges from the federal level

Thank the gentlelady, Representative Alcimer.

Boy, you asked a question that hits on a lot of points that we are all wrestling with and are truly committed to. Workforce development is part and parcel of what we do, and we have to embrace that. We do more than that. We educate citizens for a democracy. We contribute in so many ways, but that's central to what we do. We have completed a portfolio review. We call it our academic program and portfolio review. Pretty holistic look at everything Penn State does. Every single course, every single program, and we are working on how do we assess, and part of that was also getting data on what are the needs, not just of the community, but of Pennsylvania and the nation, and how are we aligning it. I think that's good practice. We ought to do that. We did it on our own and we intend to continue that. A second thing that we are really focused on is how do do we make sure every single student gets experiences outside the classroom, sir? Because when you think about preparation for the workforce, it's not just your grades that you get in the classroom. Do they have an internship? Do they have an undergraduate research experience? Those factors set our students apart. So one of the things we are very focused on right now is what do we do with those first-generation college students, low-income college students, who might not know or might not have the resources to take unpaid internships as an example that look good on their resume. So we are really laser focused on expanding opportunities for the 88,000 students we serve. One last thing I have to put in a plug. Part of our portfolio I'm very proud is the Pennsylvania College of Technology. So when we think about workforce readiness, that's a model where it's directly applicable. And lastly, I would say I'm very proud of our College of Liberal Arts. So when you think about workforce readiness, it's not just the engineering and the nursing. It is the arts and the humanities, but we need to say it's our job to show the students and employers how it works in tandem, to translate what you learn into the skills that people are looking for in the workforce. AI, we've launched a big initiative in everything, from teaching to research, and equally importantly to our administrative functions. We can cut costs and be more efficient through AI. We have a whole program, and I'm happy to send that to you. But thank you.

Thanks. Gentleman, Representative Fleming.

And again, I want to begin by acknowledging how difficult it has been on our farmers. That's just been truly devastating, the worst in a few decades. Penn State is involved in every step, as you might imagine. We are the emergency responders for this. So whether it's the surveillance, diagnostics, biosecurity, the depopulation, disposal, and most importantly, continuity of operations. These are the six buckets we think about. We are working on this 24-7, I would say. And we're proud to partner with the state in trying to help, especially on the continuity of operations.

I would say that it's been a very challenging issue for all of us. It's changing every single day. But one of the things I'm proud of at Penn State is that we truly are one of less than a handful of programs in the entire country where athletics is self-sustaining. No one else can claim that, and certainly even within the state, I can tell you that. In terms of, for us, for athletics, not $1 you give us for appropriations or from the university goes to athletics. Not $1 of our student tuition goes to athletics. Something that's truly unique is no student fee for athletics. I'm not, you know, we don't. We don't subsidize the athletics. My fear is unless we get control over this, if that changes. I come and proudly ask you for appropriations because I can guarantee you we don't even have student fees for athletics. And we don't subsidize that. So that is a concern, a growing concern for us. You know, maybe a little bit counterintuitive, but I think we have to sort of go back to basics and make sure, first and foremost, that our student-athletes are students first, that they're graduating, that they have an opportunity to study abroad, that they have meaningful work opportunities. And so I've tried to recenter our athletics department around that principle, and then everything else flows from there.

We have a student-centered philosophy for our 600-some-odd student-athletes to ensure that they have an excellent educational experience and that we are competitive. That is part of our excellence, too. We also do not use any of our appropriation to support the enterprise, but it is, as President Fry described, one of the most dizzying, rapidly changing, unsettled areas of ground that we are coping with. But I've always said and very much believe that athletics is the front porch of the university in many ways. It's the first form of engagement. It's how many of our alums stay engaged. It's how a lot of kids realize that they appreciate the opportunity that higher education offers them, and we want it to be a very nice front porch. And so we're working really hard to figure out how to get this into a condition where it is manageable for all of us and also still competitive and excellent. Thank you all so much. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank the gentleman. Representative Rigby.

Multiple. Yes, we do. And in fact, last time I believe I shared, we now have articulation agreements with every single community college, so it's a simple form that everyone can use.

Do you have other arrangements such as reverse transfer agreements, dual admissions, or any other initiatives with the PA community colleges? Yes.

Yes, we all do.

Thank you, Chairman. Cool. Thank you, gentlemen.

Yes. Thank you, Representative. And thank you for, you know, honoring the institution with carbohydrates. We're very glad to see that commitment. So the plan for Pitt focuses first and foremost on students and their success, on the research enterprise, which is such a cornerstone for us, on fiscal accountability and transparency, being a place where everyone can succeed, and then also doing appropriate curated strategic risk in places that make sense for an institution like ours, where we are, and where we have our strengths. So on the student success side as we testified to before we going to have another record year in terms of applications and demand for the institution We will have a very strong showing from the Commonwealth which makes up more than 60 of our enrollment but also very strong out demand We have record high graduation rates and also record high placement rates. Those are all metrics in the strategic plan. We have maintained our research enterprise, and even in some very specific areas around health sciences, seen growth. All of that research not only leads to treatments and cures, which can impact every single person, but also to a very high amount of commercialization and reinvestment and redeployment that way in startups and enterprises that then create professional and economic development opportunities. We've been your partner on fiscal transparency, and we think we've made a lot of progress there. And then we've made some very specific strategic investments like the BioForge Initiative, which we've talked to you about before, which is an incredible facility in Hazelwood Green, an area that was suffering with the departure of the steel industry, where you're now seeing bespoke development, AI-powered, of pharmaceuticals for rare diseases. So you have, you know, PhDs and doctors doing scientific research. You have workforce running the manufacturing. We have educational opportunities, and we're putting a community engagement center there. So sort of that real, you know, check, check, check of what a research university engaged in its community can do. And those were all metrics under the strategic plan.

into the state economy. You know, you're building in Pennsylvania, you're buying, purchasing in Pennsylvania, you know, you're hiring in Pennsylvania. Can you talk a little bit more about the economic impact that Pitt has annually on the Commonwealth? Yes, I mean, all of those numbers, obviously, we're very proud of and humbly recognize that they don't happen on our own, that it's also part of the investment that we're here talking to you about today. But that's, I think, when we think about what a university does in its community, We always are anchored in our students and their educational opportunities and focusing them towards high-demand areas so that they have full social mobility. They have an amazing experience. They learn something they wouldn't otherwise know. They grow. They get a job. We don't lose sight of that. But there are so many layers beyond that that those students bring, that their families bring, that the fans to our games bring, that the patients to our hospitals bring, that the research investment, the federal dollars we were talking about earlier, creates every one of those dollars, comes back as almost $3 locally in the communities where they are received. And so when we're at our best self, our commitment to service is not just impactful in people's lives, but it has real ROI. And we're very proud of that and want to continue to deliver in that way.

Representative Flood.

Thank you. We're bringing forward an AI policy, but we've already started to integrate it into our student journey. So through a very generous program with IBM, all of our first-year students have to complete a first-level course on AI certification in terms of its use. And once they complete that course, they have the opportunity to go on and take several levels of AI certifications with IBM. So we're very happy about that. We use it a lot in administrative work. In fact, I have to admit that I just learned yesterday how cool Cold Pilot is, and now I'm hooked. So, you know, it really helps to get through some of the tasks we have to do. In the classroom, it can be a great learning tool, and so we have all kinds of learning opportunities for faculty to better integrate. When we first heard about AI, most people were concerned about making sure people couldn't use it to cheat, and now we're trying to understand how we can use it to enhance learning. And then the last thing I want to say about that is that I think about AI in the same way I did with the Internet, right? We thought the Internet was going to take away every job that the library ever had. And in fact, the invention of AI actually puts pressure on universities to figure out what the next skill up will need to be. Because AI, you know, is just AI, it's still a technology. And so how can a university prepare the workforce for the next level of work that needs to be done once we integrate AI,

I completely agree with President Allen. This is here to stay. So remember, Plato worried about teaching students, you and me, how to write, right? At the time, he said, humans are learning writing. This was the end of the world. So every time new technology comes along we worry about it But you also asked about research We very proud of the place that Penn State holds It every area of our research It's not just healthcare. It's learning where the stars are. It's engineering. It's national security. It's everywhere. We are focusing on ethical use of AI. What are the limits of AI? And while entry-level jobs are going away, that's what people say, no, there'll always be entry-level jobs. You have to start somewhere. the expectations of what you do in those first years or two are changing. It's in law. It's in architecture. It's every field. So we are really hoping to double down on what we do with the students to develop them as human beings and to stay ahead because the AI cannot replace. Our provost is fond of quoting, AI will not replace humans, but humans who understand AI will replace humans that don't.

One of the things we all need to own up to in academia is that we don't give them clear guidelines. The students are way ahead in some areas. There's no question. So we are coming up with policies that have a red light, yellow light, green light. What courses is it allowed in? For what projects is it allowed? I teach a course. I actually encourage my students and say, ask AI to debate this from the perspective of different philosophers. And then what did you come up with? So we need to say, how do you use it ethically, safely, and what are the constraints?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you to all of our university presidents and chancellor for being with us today. Appreciate it. I want to ask first off a question for President Bendapudi. I want to ask about the facilities at Penn State for the dormitories and student housing. And what is going on with regard to trying to upgrade and update some of the older buildings? We know that some of these buildings have had challenges in the past, either sprinklers bursting in them, fires happening, students being displaced, maybe heat going out during some sub-zero temperatures. What is the university doing to make sure that those facilities are upgraded and updated so that the students have a safe and clean living environment to be in?

I appreciate hearing that. Would be looking to work with you to try and find more of those solutions to some of these issues. The second question I have, my final question for all of you, this covers public transportation. You're not here in a transportation hearing. However, you do rely on public transportation in where your universities have a footprint, either it be at your main campus or at one of your satellite locations. How important is it for your facilities and your institutions to see the actual investment and maintained investment within public transportation across the Commonwealth I know there a large footprint within the Philadelphia region also within Penn State Abington campus, Templar Ambler campus, and many others in Pittsburgh as well, and also where our facilities are across the Commonwealth. So if each of you can speak to that a little bit for your respective institutions, that would be appreciated. I'll start and be brief. For us, it's mission

Same, Representative. We sent a letter of support last year in support of PRT. They're critically important to, obviously, our faculty and staff, but also our students. We have a lot of students who commute in the health sciences in particular because they're going all over the city to get to their clinical environments. And so it's into Oakland, but also it's out from Oakland. We're very reliant on public transportation. We have almost none, which makes it hard for our students to actually do work in the community. If you can just get one bus coming in from Philly once a day, we would be very happy. So let us know what we can do. Thank you for mentioning that.

Would there be a devastating effect on the university staff, faculty staff, if there wasn't any further opportunity for upgrades or continued transportation funding for those modes of transportation? I mean, after fighting so hard to get people back to campus working, you know, all week, we would have to start thinking about remote again, which I think would undermine so much of the progress that we've made in building back communities. So this would be a terrible setback for us. Would it be an economic impact to the area and the region of which your universities sit? Absolutely, because if those people aren't coming in every day, you know, to campus, they're not going to be, you know, having lunch or dinner or, you know, buying things around campus and things like that. So, yes, it would melt away the economic impact at precisely a time when we're trying to build that up. How am I going to recruit, you know, retailers and hotels and other, you know, commercial activity to Broad Street if no one's going to be there? I appreciate your answers. Thank you for your responses. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and welcome, panel. I'm glad you're here. I appreciate your testimony. I'd like to direct my opening question to President Fry. President Fry and my grandmother used to say when God closes a door, he opens a window. In Schuylkill County, we say now that when God closes a Rite Aid, he opens a Temple Dental Clinic. That's not really true, but that's what I say. And candidly, it's been a real pleasure to work with Temple Dental Dean Ishmael, Senator Argel, Congressman Muser, Tamakwa Community Partnership, and the Morgan Foundation to bring Temple Dental Clinic to Tamakwa, Pennsylvania. And it a great just a great situation where we have multiple groups working together for the common good And I think it rural health in general is a real real concern And Temple Dental's investment and Temple's investment in rural dentistry shows great vision and accountability. Do you know, President Fry, do you know what Temple's investment is in the Temple Dental Clinic in Tamaqua? Do you know that answer?

Yeah, and we're incredibly excited about that, and it brings a lot of economic vitality to the community as well. Let me ask you this. Do you know, just on Temple Dental as a whole, do you know how much of the state's appropriation goes to Temple Dental?

Okay.

Are there discounts or scholarships available for state students in Temple Dental?

Okay.

So that's great. Thank you very much. Dr. President Bendapudi, you spoke about – and first of all, let me congratulate you on the new chancellor at Schuylkill campus also. Schuylkill now is proud to show the Penn State and Temple brands. So we're very proud of that. But we now have Chancellor Boer. Welcome to Schuylkill. So thanks for that. But you spoke in your opening comments about Invent Penn State, and it was previously funded at $2.3 million through DCED's budget, and it's no longer included in the budget proposal. Can you briefly explain what that program is and describe its impact? act on innovation and economic development to local communities?

No, thank you very much. And our time is up, so thank you all very much.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you all for being here. I'd always like to take a second and recognize the folks behind you. I had that job once in my life, and the work and the time they take to make sure you're prepared is enormous. So thank you all. Mr. Chairman, I found myself dozing off over here, so excuse me if I try to juice this up a little bit. My take on all of this is we can't live without higher education. It's why all of us are sitting here is because of the skills and the education that prompted all the other opportunities. And, Dr. Benapurta, you mentioned in your opening remarks, our support for your organizations, for the institutions that make Pennsylvania, you know, one of the best places in the world for all kinds of technologies or health science or other things has been stagnant. And I want to hear the impacts of that, what we could be, what the vision should be for the young men and women in Pennsylvania so that we invest in higher education rather than deny that impact and that we move this entire Commonwealth into a better future. So if you want to start, that's great, but I would like to hear from each of you that what we could accomplish by providing more resources, by making in-state tuition cheaper, and by keeping all of those students in the Commonwealth.

I want to add something to that. As you know, Lincoln University is the first degree-granting historically black college. There are 107 approximately HBCUs in this country. HBCUs there, which is only about 3% of all higher education, yet HBCUs produce about 20% of all African Americans with a baccalaureate degree. 80% of all black judges in this country went to an HBCU. 50% of all physicians, 50% of all dentists attended an HBCU. And 25% of black people in STEM had part of their career at a historically black college. But historically, we have functioned with resources at only a fraction of many of our PWI counterparts. And so while I am very grateful for the investment that the Commonwealth makes in Lincoln University, I often ask myself, how much more could we do if we have more resources, especially since we are educating a large majority of students where they don't come with all of the preparation that they may need. However, we are somehow able to do for them what they need in order for them to rise to the level of excellence that we've seen. And so as long as historically by colleges in general continue to have to punch above their weight, we continue to have to work harder than some of our counterparts. And to some degree, we have to ask ourselves how much of the reservoir talent, especially among African Americans, we're missing because we don't have the resources to embrace them all. Mr. Chairman, I know we're out of time. I just want to stay for the record that we can do so much more to raise Pennsylvania and Pennsylvanians to a higher level of income and investment. We ought to be doing it.

Thank you, gentlemen. Representative Krupa.

Has Penn State made a final decision with respect to the nursing program in Fayette campus? My understanding is this, that Penn State may keep a physical footprint in Fayette County with respect to the nursing program.

It's always good to hear your perspective on things. I would like to set a couple of things straight before I get to what you said. Number one on athletics. With all due respect, we only have five minutes. I understand, but I have to correct it because this comes up again and again. And maybe you heard me before, not $1 of your appropriations, not $1 of a student tuition, and not $1. We don't even charge student fees, unlike many universities that are compelled to. It's completely self-sustaining.

Chairman Harris.

I disagree because I would like to be on the record that I completely disagree, but I will go on because it's all ticket sales and philanthropy. But on the campuses, please know that this was an agonizing decision for us.

May I politely interrupt you? My first question was with respect to the nursing program at Fay Academy.

our very best to work with communities to keep them successful. Has Penn State submitted any formal notice, documentation, or request to the Pennsylvania Department of Education regarding

Has the University conducted any publicly shared economic impact studies or reports regarding the campuses and the local communities?

Mr. Chairman, in light of the back and forth, may I have 30 seconds more? I promise I won't ask about cannabis.

Not in this hearing.

What commitments are being made to the faculty and staff who've built their careers at these branch campuses?

Thank you. We are out of time. Thank you. Thanks, gentlelady. Representative Kincaid.

I don't have that figured off the top of my head. I do know that the conversations with Teamsters are progressing. My understanding is productively, including on a lot of the aspects, but I'm happy to follow up with you.

I'll start. We have something that is, so yes, we are both very committed to this. it is not only a very high need area, but there's actually a very deep body of research on how your oral health affects the rest of your physical health with direct ties to other community health issues that can be resolved with symptoms. strong dental health care. So for us, what we're our dean, Marnie Oakley, who's fabulous, is something that she learned when she was a military dentist around bringing dental care into underserved areas, both through dental training, which is the cornerstone of what we're doing, but also through dental hygienist training and a new program that's a master's in dentistry For people like me who aren't experts in dental care, the way I understand it is it's sort of like being a PA or a nurse practitioner, but in dentistry. So this would be a new area of expertise where you bring in something between a dental hygienist, which for us is a four-year degree, and the dentists who can do a lot of the procedures so that the dentists themselves can rotate in rural communities. So she's in the process of setting that up. We're not as far along as Temple is, but all of her plans are underway, and we think this will make a really big difference in underserved areas for oral care. And what I would add, I think the interesting thing about Tamaqua is that is it a replicable model for dental care in rural areas? We believe it will break even by the end of year two. And so the question is, after going through this sort of initial work, can we take that model and perhaps consider other areas that are motivated, like Tamaqua, to partner with us? And I'm hopeful the answer is going to be yes. We don't want to overextend ourselves until we actually get into the work. But once we do it, and if we have something that's replicable, we're happy to talk to other communities about bringing it to them.

Yes, exactly. It should be neutral once it gets going. There's a lift to get it going, exactly as President Fry described. But it should be self-sustaining financially, but also it should be self-sustaining from a community engagement point of view because the more we – in all areas, the more you educate people locally in their community, the more likely they are to stay in their community. And this we expect to be a prime example of that.

Thank you. I appreciate the efforts on this really essential area. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Dr. Panapudi, I was reading this morning, you had a blog post on your Penn State. As an alum, I get those, and I do enjoy reading them. You mentioned in there about the state appropriation and going to invest in PA resident students. I think you mentioned 41,000 PA undergrads, 19,000 are first in their family to attend college. Sixty percent of Penn State's enrollment are Pennsylvania students. A lot of those students are found at our seven Commonwealth campuses, which Montalto is in my district. And you mentioned that Penn State is a gateway to opportunity, but it looks like that gateway is being closed at these seven universities. How do we reconcile that as we're going through the appropriations process?

I think the I cannot deny how painful it is to the community and to the individuals there There nothing I can say that makes that go away because it true I acknowledge it It a very difficult decision to make Sir, I will tell you that the lack of population in those areas makes it very expensive for a Penn State degree to be there. We are working very hard. I told you, we get less today, even in nominal dollars, not accounting for inflation compared to the year 2000. I will say the other things we are doing, let me tell you, we're strengthening the other communities. In Mon Alto, we're working with the communities on what the alternatives are. What it is allowing us to do, this difficult decision, is to make sure that instead of having programs or communities that are not strong, that we are able to invest more. But rural health, you are talking about, we have a program now, sir, called PC Medic that we've just rolled out. Primary care emergency medicine, if you would think about that. In every rural county, how do we have someone that can help? And the very fact that still, still, we have this many students that we educate is why we believe we're being a good partner to the Commonwealth.

Great question. Once again, I would remind you that Penn State still gets half as much as Temple and Pitt for students. So these are the problems that have accumulated over decades. For us with the campuses, this is the commitment we have made. We have these three individuals meeting with you. I know they have met with the representatives in each area, meeting with the communities, trying to bring in private and public partners because we want these communities to be strong. We are truly committed to it, and it's a tough decision that had to be made because of all of the data that I gave you.

Yes.

Thanks.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good afternoon, everyone. It's great to see you again. Chancellor Gable, it was great to spend some time out at the University of Pittsburgh just before Christmas time, where with Governor Shapiro we announced the first-ever state funding for the research of neurodegenerative diseases, diseases like Alzheimer's, ALS, and Parkinson's. And my friend and colleague, Brian Cutler, is here, who was instrumental in that historic effort as well. And it's a matter that's deeply personal to him and to me and to so many Pennsylvanians. So I wanted to, I guess, give you an update, all of you, you know, those of you with research operations, that the Department of Health will soon be rolling out this program to deploy that $5 million. And time flies when you're having fun. And we're looking at next year's budget, where I'm very proud that the governor has yet again included it in his proposal, a $5 million line item in the Department of Health. So just wanted to hear from you and any other presidents regarding how critical this funding is, especially in light of flatlined and uncertain federal funding. It would be great to hear perspective.

Can I just add that with the state investing in that research on these large research campuses helps to replace some of the funding that went away from the federal government that allow researchers at Temple, Pitt, and Penn to take students from a place like Lincoln University and provide them that direct instruction and undergraduate research opportunity. And so I think it replaces a very critical experience, not just on those campuses for those researchers, but what a grant like that can do to bring students from other campuses to be a part of that really very important research. And please understand, too, that these kind of investments by the Commonwealth also drive significant philanthropy. We just received the largest gift in Temple's history for public health and many aspects of that gift. are going to be able to support what you're doing right now. Those votes of confidence in institutions like ours are crucial to philanthropists who want to see who else has skin in the game.

We thank the gentleman. Representative Brown.

Penn State, the difference has been over decades, and so you can imagine what would happen today if we just kept up with inflation. we would receive over $200 million more than we used to, with 10,000 fewer students, as you know. So part of it is the deferred maintenance questions that you asked, other ways that we would invest in this big footprint has had an impact, Madam. The other thing that I would say is that Penn State is in all 67 counties, and that is not typical even for an Ohio State. So a lot of things that we do, we are also extraordinarily mindful of controlling tuition. While it is high and it worries me, we put so much into in-state need. And adjusting for inflation, students today are paying $1,000 less than they used to even 10 years ago. That doesn't mean we're done. Please know that in all the years I've been here, some of these questions it's hard for me to answer because I've only been here coming up on four years, so I don't know the history of many of these. But I will tell you that on our Commonwealth campuses, we have not increased tuition at all, zero, for this time period. And even at University Park, we're trying to keep it sub-inflation. The challenge we have is the open access mission that we have. I will tell you this. Ohio State has four campuses, Commonwealth campuses, if you will, like our idea of beyond the main campus, and they're talking about four is too many. What can we do? That's the reality. Penn State's, it's a complicated thing, but I would love to send you more details so you can look for yourself.

May I say one thing about that? Every dollar you give us goes to in-state tuition, a discount that we provide. That's how it should be. On top of what you give, Penn State puts in over, you know, $15,000 to try to keep, you know, discount to try to keep in-state tuition low. We continue to work on it.

One of my colleagues, our Deputy Provost, Mary Louise Esten, was involved directly in the effort By the way also in the spirit of the formula funding funding or the incentive funding as well We really do appreciate being involved in that And I think when I looked at it and provided my comments basically it made clear to me that Temple has other roles to play within the larger context of the Commonwealth, and we intend to move into those spaces, some of which we've talked about today, and play that role. So it was extremely helpful, even though it's at a high level, to help us as leaders identify where should we be playing a larger role.

Thanks, gentlelady. Representative Bellman.

So in 2025, we launched the Center for Excellence in Workforce Development at our School for Adult and Continuing Education in our Philadelphia facility. So far in that facility, we started to train medical technicians. We're in our third cohort. All get through the program. They take their certification, and we help them through job placement. We are engaged in our cybersecurity certification process as well. And we continue to look at those SIP codes. One of the things about the workforce development question earlier that I wanted to add is that not only do we need to look at what we currently do on our campuses, So as a liberal arts institution, our way of really providing experience for the workforce is bringing the employees from the state, employers from the state into the campus to help our students understand how they can turn that liberal arts education into a career in those different industries. What we're trying to do in our Philadelphia facility is really provide the first pathway into higher education through these micro-credentials and certification opportunities that start to give you entry-level skills for the job force, but hopefully may wake people up to the idea of moving on to an associate's, to a bachelor's, and so on. So there are many ways I think our institutions across the board can really contribute to workforce development. And we have to start to think a little bit more outside the box in terms of how we do that and how we deliver that for different populations.

Thank you. And, Dr. Fry, I had one – it was a principal that was right outside of my district that I met with from New York, but came to Philadelphia through Temple University, stayed in Philadelphia, taught Philadelphia's young people, and is now a principal. So I also want to ask the question, too, is there anything else that the General Assembly can do to make sure that those people who come here and are educated here through higher education actually stay here in Pennsylvania and become lifelong Pennsylvanians?

Thank you. Thank you, Chair. Appreciate it.

Thank you, Chairman Harrison, and thank you all for being here today. My question goes out to the University of Pittsburgh. Chancellor Gable, last year I asked a question concerning, it was then Vice President Harris had a political rally at the Fitzgerald Fieldhouse, now it a Peterson Event Center You know I asked questions like who paid for it was it a discounted rate who paid for security And I believe we left that you were going to get me some of the answers If you sent them over we never got them So it something we could follow up with at the end of this I would appreciate it. Or if you have the answers now, we could discuss it, but I'm sure you don't.

All right. Thank you. And I appreciate that. So my question is just for all four of you guys, you know, ladies as well, as we move into the data center era, what technologies, what initiatives, what private partnerships are we working with to ensure that, one, Pennsylvania workforce, folks are coming from Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Energy, we're rich on natural gas, our resources are coming here. How can a data center being built in Pennsylvania get the most out of our Pennsylvania resources, and how can our four universities here today benefit the most out

It's a great question. Thank you for that. And Chancellor Gable alluded to it. I had the pleasure, as the representative of what could rightly be called the Energy University, that's really what we do, such a large part of it. had the pleasure of being the moderator on a panel that Senator McCormick, Governor Shapiro, and Matt Garman, the CEO of AWS, who started the whole data warehouses in Pennsylvania, if you would. And we talked about this in quite some depth because of Penn State's position as the leader in producing STEM graduates. The interesting thing is what's happening on the research side. So we're all producing the workers of today and tomorrow. On research, I'm very enthused about what is happening. I can speak to my university. We are looking at new ways of not just materials. That's our strength. So a 2D computer chip instead of 3D. And what does that mean? That work is happening. And in today's Penn State today, we were showcasing how this etching on the silicon chip for for the data warehouses, what we can do. How do we do it in a way that's more sustainable? So playing a very big part, and we are in active conversations with all of the players in this area, to us to help them as we develop.

Anything else to add before I wrap up? I would love to be able to see what opportunities we could bring, particularly to North Philadelphia in this regard. We have so much vacant land, underutilized buildings, which were once an instrumental part of the industrial part of Philadelphia that are vacant. And so anything that would be a good set of opportunities that we can look at as alternatives, in North Philadelphia, I think would be great. Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, once again, thank you guys for everything today, for coming out here. For someone that's pro-Pennsylvania, is our caucuses there? Anything we can do to help out to make sure that we're using Pennsylvania resources, Pennsylvania jobs, Pennsylvania economy across the board, appreciate it. Thank you.

Hi, good morning, and thank you all so much for being here. I just want to kind of highlight the different, the wide range of benefits and investments that we see as a result of having a thriving higher education sector, and particularly the state-related universities. And I wanted to start with Temple University. I represent Center City, Philadelphia, including the Avenue of the Arts. And I'm wondering if you could just talk a little bit about the investment that you're making in Center City. And I know you're a real estate guy, so maybe some tangible sort of benefits that are just seen from basic, you know, investments that are made in real estate by our great universities.

And we're so grateful. And, you know, what happened to the Union of the Arts was really a terrible tragedy. and to see this sort of tangible investment that obviously is going to benefit Temple students faculty staff but it also is doing very tangible good for Center City for the Commercial Corridor along Broad Street And I just am so grateful that we have these examples of these very tangible investments that our universities make and how they impact our communities But one of the wonderful things about academia and our university system is we are not just investing in real estate and opening new classrooms and those things are important. But we're also in the pursuit of knowledge and we're in the pursuit of wonder. And I think I want to ask the folks from Penn State, Dr. Pendebuti, specifically at Penn State there is the Extraterrestrial Intelligence Center, which is exactly what it sounds like. a bunch of astronomers and astrophysicists who are pointing telescopes towards the sky and trying to answer some of the oldest questions that we as humans have struggled with from the beginning. And I'm wondering if you could talk a little bit about the importance of investing not only in the sort of tangible but also in knowledge and wonder and what that can lead to when we make those investments.

I like your way better. We call them questions of curiosity, questions of awe and wonder. Okay, thank you so much.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, presidents, for being here today. I have a couple of questions on safety on campus, and particularly the first line of questioning as it relates to world events. After the horrific events of October 7th a couple of years ago, there was a rise of anti-Semitism across the nation on college campuses and elsewhere. And each of you had to deal with that and work through that situation. I'm curious, with the current, current events that are happening now with what's going on in the Middle East, have we seen a reaction on college campuses? And how are we making sure that our Jewish students are being kept safe and secure? And we're also keeping open dialogue amongst students and staff. I'll go first.

And on campus, the recent launch of an anti-Semitism task force that has faculty, staff, students, and community members working specifically on the uptick in anti-Semitism. Broadly, we have not seen a fundamental level change in the amount of student voice being expressed across issues. We have a very purple campus, and so we have a very purple voice at the University of Pittsburgh amongst our students. The issues that they're taking up are varying and evolving with the times. In actually multiple directions, we're ensuring we bring in a balanced slate of speakers and experts in order to facilitate. And actually, they do a lot of that on their own through who they invite and how they set up their own conversations. So I would say that as a matter of if you were to look statistically at the level of activity or activism or activation on campus, it would look flat. The issues that they're addressing are varying according with the times. That's what we're seeing.

And I would just appreciate with what's going on around the world, if we just keep a close eye on it in particular now. So thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, gentlemen.

Thank you, Chair. Happy Women's History Month. My question is about how are you respectively preparing your students to enter the workforce to address the maternal health and the rural health crisis. We know Lincoln has a rich history of producing our doctors and other health care workers. Penn State has a large and extensive footprint throughout the state with your health care system. We know that Temple recently opened its Women and Families Hospital and, of course, held to Pitt. As an alum of the University of Pittsburgh, we know that Pitt has the largest labor and delivery hospital in western Pennsylvania. So we are facing a crisis that requires us to have pipelines for health care providers and workers. So I would love to hear from each of you what role you think your institution has to play in, again, fighting the public health crisis of both black maternal health and maternal health, as well as the critical needs in our rural communities across the Commonwealth.

Just very quickly, I think you know, Representative, we have Pitt Center for Excellence in Maternal and Child Health that is focused exactly on this disparity and both the medical challenges associated and the resulting social challenges. So it is very anchored in clinical training, first and foremost, and getting that clinical care into the field, so to speak, but also in providing graduate students, postdocs, doctors in residency, nurses, and early career faculty with the support so that they can go into the field and look at what President Bendapudi describes as sort of the one health question of the clinical care plus food care plus rapid care. around for after school and weekend, summer, bridging, et cetera, so that families have what they need to support mom and child in the early days. And you mentioned our new hospital for women and families. It opened last June of 25, and I think that was a result of trying to take care of all of these individuals in a big acute care hospital. We just didn't have the specialty services for women. St. Christopher's Hospital for Children is badly under-resourced. We support them, but we also need to do more for children. And so this new facility is terrific. We really invested very, very heavily in it at a time when it's hard to invest heavily in anything. And I'm really, really pleased with the result. I hope you'll come and visit and see it. It's a real miracle, and it's doing exactly what we hoped it would do. Thank you all so much.

Thank you, gentlelady.

Thank you, Chairman Harris.

There are glitches that we are working through, especially on the codes, the SIP codes as we call them. One aspect has been us as universities. I know this cuts across all of us, making sure that our, in the pre-major level, once the students get to the major, there's not a problem, because that's clearly identified what they are studying. But when a student is admitted, saying, we just talked about healthcare, saying they're interested in nursing, as an example, when they're admitted, we need to make sure that the pre-major codes are accepted by FIA. That's a challenge. So we are happy to do what we need to do, but we are looking forward to making sure that FIA also shows flexibility and has a way to acknowledge the codes as they are. I gave an example earlier of engineering, 14.000, you know, it's six digits. Engineering general, no problem. FIA will accept it. But in agriculture, with this 1.000, it won't. So those are the kinds of things we need to work through, but it's a great program.

We think it's an outstanding program. I don't think Temple is utilizing it to its full capacity, and that's something that we need to do. So that's more of an internal issue for you in terms of your finance department working with students? Exactly, and I don't think our students really know what the possibilities are. So we need to do a much better job of marketing this, putting this out with all the other things that we do to make sure people take advantage of it. So that's on us.

Yeah, I think for us it's finding where we fit in the SIP codes because they are very professional oriented. And as a liberal arts institution, it's sometimes hard, even though our graduates go into many of those areas. How you define that major in that SIP code, we haven't quite figured out yet. So I think that's our issue, not yours.

Sure. Thank you.

Yeah, I serve on the FIA board, and we've heard those conversations about the codes, And it's something that we are actively working on. I know the members from the General Assembly at least the House that are on that have had ample conversations And if there statutory changes we committed to do so I don think we need to I just frankly think it more of a regulatory issue inside FIA and just mirroring those up Now one of the concerns that we have is that and this happened at a public hearing, there was an effort by some of our friends in the Senate, frankly, to claw back a significant amount of those dollars that's already been appropriated. In real life terms, when we're talking about students that are paying bills, this isn't a gotcha question what would happen if somebody had been approved for money but then it goes away how would you respond to a student who thought that they were getting a grant and then poof it goes away

Perfect. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Chairman.

We're up across the system. The Commonwealth campuses for us are flat over the last couple of years, below historical peaks but stable. The Oakland campus is growing.

We are down slightly because I think part of it was the confusion over the Commonwealth campuses and what would happen, but overall we're very stable. and we do take into account what will happen over the next 20 years as I've shared.

Okay. So I think it's important that the people who are listening understand what your funding requests are. Given what you just said about enrollments, Penn State is asking for $394 million, an 11.7% increase. Temple is requesting $183 million or a 16% increase. University of Pittsburgh is asking for million or a 3 increase and Lincoln requested million or a 10 increase I put that out there not to pass any type of judgment just to say the numbers and the numbers don really mesh up. Now I know this is the beginning part of the process of our budget negotiations and you know as in most years what we talk about in these hearings and what the governor has proposed doesn't look remotely like what we see at the end of June and July hopefully this year. But I think it's important for people to understand. The governor, flatline funding, $614 million. If all of your requests were to be met, that's $763 million, a pretty significant gap there. So I think you can see why people were sometimes hesitant when it comes to higher education and understanding why funds are needed. And I want to speak specifically, though, to Penn State. in this hearing last year, and this is where I get to the perception and the transparency. We asked, I believe specifically, if you knew what campuses were going to close, and you said no. And then it was three or four days later, the campuses that were going to close were announced. I was personally somewhat offended because literally you were in front of us and said you didn't know. Now, I know that Mike and Aaron have come and sat with us and kind of explained the timing with your board and what happened there. But again, from our standpoint, it's a lack of transparency that we're concerned about. And so I point that out because I think it's important that as we move forward and we talk about these extensive taxpayer dollars that are going to higher education, that we are transparent and that we are forthright. understanding again difficult decisions have to be made but when we ask you specifically and you say you don't know and then an announcement is made publicly that's that's something that I think is hard for us to understand but

I appreciate that, but I think you can understand why my colleagues and I have been very, I think, hard on you. this hearing and understanding again the demographic challenges and I just think it's it's important that that you know whatever the future of higher education looks like that we are transparent about what's happening where we need to again right size looking at curriculum the workforce as we discussed that length today I think all these things need to be in in front of the eyes of the public when we're talking about significant taxpayer dollars potentially going for higher education. So again, thank you all for being here. We appreciate your testimony.

Thank you, Chairman. Real quick, I have a question for Temple. You talked a little bit about this with Representative Waxman. I was very troubled when University of the Arts closed and personally reached out to the board chair at Temple to see what it was that Temple could do to help. I know for a while many folks wanted to see Temple have a presence on South Broad Street. and you've since then that I've taken a tour with some of your folks of facility that you're looking at that you now own on South. Can you just talk a little bit more about, I think it's going to be a music program, the music programs are going to be located there. Talk a little bit more about that. And is there other things that you could see happening on South Broad Street with Temple University?

Well, I want to thank Temple for what they're doing on South Broad Street. You know, I'm a South Philly boy, born and raised. So many of those areas that are on the avenue of the arts, I frequented as a young man growing up in South Philly. I would also say that the arts scene in Philadelphia, I will put up against any other major city in the world, not just in the United States, whether you go to Paris, whether you're in New York or any place across the world. We have some of the most high quality art spaces right in the central part of Philadelphia that, quite honestly, I think many people take for granted because it's always been there. You know what I mean? You know, every major show that's going to travel across the world at some point in time, it will be in Philly or at the Academy of Music, whether at the Kemmel Center. You know, it will make a stop. Philadelphia, when you think about any major artist who has a world tour, there's going to be a stop in Philadelphia. And I think we've experienced that for so long that we take for granted that we have so much of this right here in the city of the first class. and all of those people who come to Philadelphia from all over the region to experience those things benefit all of the taxpayers in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania when they come and they spend their resources in Philadelphia. So I just want to publicly say I thank Temple for what they're doing. And quite honestly, I would encourage more investment of Temple University on South Broad Street to continue to help us where we develop the arts in that space. My next question is for Lincoln. I am very pleased with the increases that Lincoln has seen over the last three years. I was not actually joking, but a sound joke when I was naming some of the famous alums of Lincoln University. But all of that is true. Langston Hughes did go to Lincoln University. Lincoln University is a university that has educated presidents across this world. And when you were making your comments, Dr. Allen, about the number of African American doctors and whatnot that have gone to HBCUs, you made a comment about if Lincoln had more they could do more If you had more what would that look like for the students of Lincoln What are some of the things that you unable to do that you really would do if there was increased funding for Lincoln

You know, I had dinner last night with a gentleman who was a classmate of Chief Justice Roberts in law school. And, you know, we had a nice dinner. We talked a lot. And sometimes I think in Pennsylvania, we take for granted the abundance of riches that we have with regards to our higher education institutions. Now, listen, I am all about holding universities and departments and everybody accountable for taxpayer resources. We should. It is our responsibility to hold folks accountable when we are administering taxpayer resources. But I also think we take for granted the fact that we in Pennsylvania have some of the finest institutions of higher education known to the world. Known to the world. The four that sit here are some of the finest who have educated folks who go on and literally not only change the trajectory of Pennsylvania, but change the trajectory of this country and of the world. And so when we talk about the investment of these resources, yes, we should hold folks accountable. We also have to understand that many of the young people who are not even young people, many of the learners who are going to these four universities are getting a world class education. That many of them would not be able to get Would it not be for the finances that this General Assembly provides to them Many of them would not have it I oftentimes wonder what ailments, what diseases, what of the world's problems would have already been solved if some of the young people who couldn't afford to go to college were able to. I wonder what we have already had a cure for cancer. I wonder what we already have a cure for HIV. I wonder what of these things would no longer plague us if the finances were in place for folks to get the education at these type of world-class institutions that would then lead them on to change the course of our world. What would have happened if there was no Lincoln for Langston Hughes or for Thurgood. What would have happened if these opportunities weren't there for many who have gone to these universities? My mother, my grandmother, Temple University, me. I would not be here today if my grandmother wouldn't have gone to CCP first and then Temple University. I tell the story often. My mother was living with her two brothers. My grandmother was raising them into projects in South Philadelphia, 13th Street projects. We call it Saigon, 13th Street, right? That's where my mom grew up, because my grandmother raised them. Had she not had the opportunity to go to school, I would not be here today. So as we debate over the next few months on what the budget is for these institutions. Let us also remember that as we hold folks accountable for the dollars and cents that these aren't just dollars and cents but it is actually the investment in the future of the state, the country, and the world that we say we want to see. And with that we will wrap up this budget hearing and thank all of the university presidents for being here and for all the work that you do every day to advance education for all of our constituents. We'll be back at 1 45. We will have the state system of higher education in the community colleges before this committee until then this committee meeting is adjourned.