Senator Joe Pittman (R-41) issued the following statement in response to the State System of Higher Education (SSHE) Board of Governors’ approval today (July 14) of a merger plan involving six of its member schools. The plan does not directly impact Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP).
“The decision made by the Board of Governors today was difficult, but necessary. As we have witnessed at IUP, the system-wide decline in enrollment created the need for many difficult decisions – primarily on how best to maintain affordability and quality educational services. The General Assembly specifically allocated $50 million in the current state budget to support SSHE’s redesign effort. My expectation is these funds will be used to quickly facilitate this transition. The time to act is now. We can no longer delay in moving forward on the necessary work to reduce costs and ensure that SSHE remains a quality and affordable option for students and their families.”
Contact: Jeremy Dias jdias@pasen.gov