EDITORIAL: "An Ironic Proposal"

As one of the few budgetAs one of the few budgetitems the governor didn'tAs one of the few budgetitems the governor didn'tcut, increased funding forAs one of the few budgetitems the governor didn'tcut, increased funding forthe Governor's Schools forAs one of the few budgetitems the governor didn'tcut, increased funding forthe Governor's Schools forExcellence sends a mixedAs one of the few budgetitems the governor didn'tcut, increased funding forthe Governor's Schools forExcellence sends a mixedmessage on state supportAs one of the few budgetitems the governor didn'tcut, increased funding forthe Governor's Schools forExcellence sends a mixedmessage on state supportfor higher education.As one of the few budgetitems the governor didn'tcut, increased funding forthe Governor's Schools forExcellence sends a mixedmessage on state supportfor higher education.____________________________ Every summer, these programs offer several hundred sophomores and juniors in Pennsylvania high schools the chance to study different disciplines at Pennsylvania colleges and universities. The programs are basically merit based; but they are also inherently need blind, because everything -- food, dormitory expenses, tuition and so forth -- is paid for by the state. Each summer, over sixty students attend the Wharton School to participate in the Governor's School for Business. The Governor's School for International Studies and the Pennsylvania School for Excellence in Health Care Professions are held at the University of Pittsburgh. The Governor's School for Agricultural Science is held at Penn State. In many cases, students who go these programs end up attending Pennsylvania schools after high school graduation. According to Elizabeth Bennett, associate director of Wharton's undergrad division and director of the Governor's School for Business, 18 participants from last year's program applied for early decision admission to next year's freshman class. One was denied, one was deferred and the other sixteen were accepted and will attend the University. That's an 89 percent acceptance rate for those early decision applicants. Regular decision figures for next year have not been determined yet, but in the past, up to a third of the participants have gone on to matriculate at the University. The additional $56,000 the governor hopes to give the Governor's School program is small change compared to the upwards of $40 million in University funding that Casey has proposed cutting. Still, it is curious that he is willing to increase support for gifted Pennsylvania students while they are in high school, but not fund the schools they may want to attend once they graduate. Without state funding, University tuition will probably increase faster than it would otherwise, and the need blind admissions policy could be scrapped. The same students who were qualified enough to attend an Ivy League for free while in high school might not be able to afford that school after graduation. Not to mention any other students. In both its own best interest and the interest of education, the Commonwealth should be funding both Governor's Schools and the schools at which they take place. Casey's proposed 3.5 percent cut to state related schools, such as Pitt and Penn State, is likely to rapidly inflate their tuition expenses as well, since state funding constitutes a much greater portion of their budgets. Soon, some students may not find the level of education they deserve and can afford within the state, and will be equally unable to afford going anywhere else. Other students may indeed travel outside the Commonwealth for their undergraduate degree, just as Casey did when he attended Holy Cross in Massachusetts in the early 1950s. But with Pennsylvania's economy in its current condition, they may never come back.