State Education Chancellor Daniel Greenstein has sent an SOS to Pennsylvania legislators to save the distressed system of colleges and universities before it is too late.

In asking the House Appropriations Committee to increase funding to the 14 Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education institutions, including East Stroudsburg and Kutztown, the chancellor insists he is not crying wolf. Well, maybe in a way he is in echoing the plea of Gov. Tom Wolf.

When it comes to Wolf, Greenstein is preaching to the choir. After all, in his February budget address, Wolf has urged the Legislature to approve a $200 million-a-year scholarship program for low- and middle-income state system students.

The governor said that this would lessen onerous student debt and attract more badly needed enrollment to these colleges, most of whose enrollments have been swooning in recent years.

The problem with the governor’s plan is that he wants to take the money from the subsidy program to keep Pennsylvania’s horse-racing industry afloat. Some committee members, including State Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon, also would like to see some of the money Wolf proposes go to the public schools and community colleges.

Not to be a nag, but I don’t get it: How can you equate the return on the expenditure of public dollars when talking about education vs. horse racing? It apparently matters to enough legislators who see a link with agriculture, which is big business in Pennsylvania.

Greenstein told legislators that the state system is in the throes of a triple whammy – student debt, sinking enrollment and a sagging commitment of public funds.

Greenstein said he is asking for a modest proposal of $9 million or a 2% increase in next year’s budget, along with a $100 million request over five years to upgrade technology and offer more online courses which have become increasingly popular with students, especially those who are working full-time jobs.

Some legislators have asked whether schools with significant decreasing enrollment should be closed or consolidated. Citing the critical need for electricians, plumbers and other technical specialists, Heffley would like to see some of the state schools transform their curriculum to accommodate these needs. “Everywhere I go, employers are in need of skilled workers,” Heffley told.

The report of a national consulting firm hired to look at the situation concluded that all 14 schools should remain open, although it did recommend that some with significant enrollment declines need to streamline or consolidate their offerings with other more thriving schools in the state system.

Going into this academic year, there was a 2.6% loss of students to 95,800, about 20% (24,000 students) fewer than when enrollment peaked at 119,513 in 2010. It has declined each of the nine years since then.

ESU’s enrollment is down 3.3%; Kutztown’s is down 1.3%. The sharpest decreases were: Indiana University of Pennsylvania, down by 8%, Lock Haven, 7.7%, and California University of Pennsylvania, 6.4%.

Other losses were recorded by Shippensburg, 4.9%; Edinboro, 3.9%; Clarion, 3.4%; Bloomsburg, 2.6%; and Slippery Rock, about 1%.

Four of the 14 showed gains, with Cheyney, one the nation’s oldest historically black colleges, posting a 32% gain to 618 students; Mansfield, up 2%, and West Chester, the largest PASSHE university with about 17,700 students, and Millersville, both up 1%.

It is a major frustration that almost all legislators acknowledge the importance and value of an affordable college education. Yet, in recent years, Pennsylvania has fallen to the lower tier when it comes to state aid, increased student debt and affordability.

Tuition at ESU, for example, is higher than at comparable universities in neighboring New Jersey (Montclair University) and New York (SUNY Binghamton).

Not all legislators are committed to increasing state funding. A few appropriations committee members, including Heffley, questioned whether increased funding of the state schools would be at the expense of community colleges.

Heffley, who has a daughter at Lehigh Carbon Community College, believes that students who attend these colleges first then transfer to a four-year school can save a substantial amount of money.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com