tag | Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education

The State System of Higher Education figures indicate loss of another 5,000-plus students this fall.

Chancellor Dan Greenstein wants a substantial portion of that money to pay for efforts to combine six of the system’s universities into two by next fall.

Bloomsburg, Mansfield and Lock Haven universities in northern Pennsylvania will form one institution; California, Clarion and Edinboro universities in western Pennsylvania the other.

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is expected to vote on its plan to merge six state-owned universities into two institutions as soon as Wednesday, despite questions that critics of the plan say remain unanswered. 

In 2019, PASSHE students received $5,739 in state subsidies, while the per-horse rate works out to $15,271.

The moves would not affect the other three state system schools in the midstate — Kutztown, Millersville, and Shippensburg.

The integration plan calls for two mergers, one in the northeastern region of the state and one in the western region.

Under one part of the plan, Bloomsburg, Mansfield and Lock Haven universities in northern Pennsylvania would merge.

Chancellor Daniel Greenstein said he was “ashamed to admit” he had not examined how the university system has historically perpetuated racial inequity.

Plans to bring together six of the State System of Higher Education’s 14 universities are beginning to take shape.