This past week, Governor Tom Corbett proposed a budget for the coming year that will reduce state funding for the PA State System of Higher Education (of which West Chester is a member) by 20 percent. This dramatic reduction, on top of last year’s equally devastating cutback of 18 percent, will have a direct, negative impact on the cost and quality of education at WCU.
The governor’s funding cuts harm students at West Chester in a number of important ways:
Tuition – This past Fall, students paid $436 more in annual tuitionthan they did the year before, a direct result of last year’s budget cuts. Tuition is not going down – next Fall, WCU students will pay this increase again, and if the governor’s proposed cuts for this year are approved, tuition will be even higher. There is no way WCU can cut enough in material, personnel, and services to make up this shortfall and not raise rates: reduced funding means higher tuition. At the same time, the Governor’s budget additionally proposes to reduce further state funding for student loans.
Class size – Last year’s budget cuts forced the WCU administration to increase the number of students admitted to many classes on campus. Larger classes reduce the quality of interaction between professors and students and the overall educational experience. Faculty and students both want and benefit from the personal relationships that are critical to the WCU experience. Reduced funding puts even more pressure on the university to squeeze even more students into classrooms, even as students are paying more to come to WCU.
Class availability – Remember your frustration when you tried to register for classes last semester, and MyWCU kept listing courses as “closed”? For some students, this was a major disappointment, because they were unable to pursue the subjects that were most interesting to them. For others, however, this was an even bigger problem, because they were unable to sign up for classes needed to graduate.
If Governor Corbett gets his way, funding for state universities will drop to its lowest level in more than two decades. If his funding cuts are approved, students will pay more money to get into larger classes, if they can get into those classes at all. Access to a high-quality public education will get harder for all Pennsylvanians.
That’s the bad news. The good news? There’s still time to change the budget, and you can do something about it – in less than two minutes. Make your voice heard by urging your legislator to support funding for higher education. You can find out who your legislator is and how to contact him/her by going to http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/findyourlegislator/.
The last few years have been difficult for Pennsylvania, but it is unfair for Governor Corbett to ask WCU students to bear more than their share of the burden. If you are ever going to make your voice heard, now is the time to do it.
Dr. Edward Lordan is a Professor and Internship coordinator with the Department of Communications Studies. He can be reached at ELordan@wcupa.edu.