West Chester University, along with the thirteen other Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) universities, will receive a combined amount of $37.4 million in performance funding this year. WCU will receive $4,849,149. The funding is awarded on a basis of success and continued improvement in student achievement.”Performance funding is a tangible demonstration of PASSHE’s commitment to quality education on behalf of our students,” said PASSHE Board of Governors Chairman Kenneth M. Jarin. “Not only does it help drive our pursuit of excellence in the classroom, it further demonstrates how seriously we take our responsibility to be fully accountable to the taxpayers of the Commonwealth.”
This is the seventh year of the program, which was established in July 2000 by PASSHE’s Board of Governors. It was developed to encourage student involvement and achievement. The amount funded has increased from $2 million the first year to the present amount. PASSHE was one of the first public university systems to grant perfor mance funding. The amount rewarded this year is equivalent to eight percent of PASSHE’s base appropriation from the Commonwealth.
“The universities have made dramatic progress in virtually all of the areas measured under the System Accountability and Performance Funding programs,” said PASSHE Chancellor Judy G. Hample. “There is no doubt performance funding has been a major driver in helping our universities achieve a new level of academic and operating excellence. Both our students and the Commonwealth have benefited and will continue to benefit from this improved performance.”
There are a number of indicators that the PASSHE universities must demonstrate in order to receive the performance funding. Indicators such as student retention, graduation rates, degrees awarded and the percentage of full-time tenured faculty determine how much money each school receives. Distribution of the grant money also depends on the size of the institution.
Of the 14 PASSHE universities, West Chester University was awarded the second largest sum of grant money. Millersville University will receive the most grant money; $4,902,390.
With more than 107,000 students, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth. The 14 PASSHE universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study.