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PA legislative committee explores performance-based funding options for Penn State, Pitt, Temple

The dome of the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg.
Commonwealth Media Services
The dome of the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg.

As Pennsylvania's Performance-Based Funding Council holds hearings on the best way to fund state-related universities Penn State, Pitt and Temple, one option under consideration is using performance-based criteria to allocate just a portion of state support, according to information presented during a Penn State board of trustees executive committee meeting Thursday.

Mike Stefan, Penn State’s vice president for government and community relations, said several themes emerged at the council’s first hearing earlier this week in Harrisburg.

He said it was noted that many states with performance-based funding start by using that method for just a portion of the state support.

“It would be likely that we would see two different buckets of money: our traditional general support, which would either have an increase or stay flat; and then all new money would potentially go through the performance-based funding," Stefan said.

With performance-based funding, the amount of money a school gets is tied to specific goals, such as graduation rates.

Pennsylvania passed legislation to create the Performance-Based Funding Council in 2024. It’s charged with recommending a funding method for state-related universities Penn State, Pitt and Temple based on how they’re performing.

“It’s been made clear to us that the legislature would like the three schools to work together on what works, what the metrics should be and how the dollars should flow," Stefan said.

The council has five voting members: the Secretary of Education and an appointee from each General Assembly caucus, including state Senate Majority Whip Wayne Langerholc Jr., a Republican whose district includes Clearfield and Cambria counties and part of Centre County. Non-voting representatives from Penn State, Pitt and Temple also sit on the council.

The Council has to present its recommendations to the governor and legislature by April 30.

Anne Danahy has been a reporter at WPSU since fall 2017. Before crossing over to radio, she was a reporter at the Centre Daily Times in State College, Pennsylvania, and she worked in communications at Penn State. She is married with cats.
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