Higher education in Pennsylvania faces growing challenges.
Fewer students choose to attend college. Rising costs mean higher tuition. Programs sometimes don't match workforce needs.
The State Board of Higher Education met at Luzerne County Community College on Thursday, looking for solutions. Gov. Josh Shapiro called on the board to make a strategic plan for higher education. Prior to the September deadline, the board will hold hearings across the state. Thursday's was the second of five.
“We're just going to do that work and do everything we can to strengthen the commonwealth's higher education institutions,” said Kate Shaw, the board’s executive director. “If we engage people at these regional hearings, we're going to get some terrific ideas on how to do that.”
Educators and community leaders addressed challenges.
Students at the Hazleton Center of LCCC faced a two-hour bus ride to finish their degree at the main campus in Nanticoke.
“In the same time they could be in Philadelphia, and that's the same if they were going to Misericordia or to Wilkes or to King’s. It's a serious challenge,” college President John Yudichak said.
Leaders also addressed solutions, such as LCCC starting to offer more classes in Hazleton to avoid long rides and transfers on public transit. Another program will provide assistance to students with children. Access to high-speed internet and computers also remains a concern, college staff said.
The challenges will only grow in coming years. The number of recent high school graduates choosing to attend college dropped 7% from 2017 to 2022. The amount of students graduating from public high school is projected to decline 12% by 2037, according to the board.
Eight colleges in the state closed branches or closed completely between 2022 and 2025, with four more planned, Shaw said. Clarks Summit University closed in August, and Penn State will soon announce which of its regional campuses will close due to low enrollment. Keystone College, which faced the loss of its accreditation, hopes a nonprofit group can provide financial stability. Another dozen schools exhibit signs of fiscal distress.
Pennsylvania ranks 49th for college affordability, with the state’s students graduating with an average of $40,000 in debt. The state ranks 40th nationally in the total amount of state appropriations made to higher education, according to the board.
The higher education board drafted six goals to include in the plan: increasing postsecondary credential attainment, ensuring affordable pathways to postsecondary credentials, supporting economic development needs, supporting workforce development needs, ensuring accountability and efficient use of state funds and strengthening the fiscal health and stability of the higher education sector.
“We have many strong leaders in place who understand the need for us to work together to strengthen the sector and to position it more centrally in the economic development of the commonwealth,” Shaw said.
The board, created by Shapiro in 2024, includes public and private university presidents, business leaders, students and lawmakers.
Yudichak said he thinks the board, and the regional hearings, will lead to better collaboration.
“We have to deliver postsecondary credentials in a more affordable way, in a more time-efficient way," he said. "We want to get folks into the workforce. We have shortages in teachers, nurses, in law enforcement. We have to get creative in how we respond to those shortages."
Members of the public may provide feedback on the plan on the state board website.
