Penn State University president Neeli Bendapudi, shown here speaking at the Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon earlier this year, has penned an opinion piece that commits to providing more transparency and urges the General Assembly to adopt a performance-based funding model for higher education. File/Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.comA state House Republican lawmaker sees a possible path forward to end the logjam that is holding up funding for Pennsylvania’s state-subsidized universities.
She said that would “go a long way toward addressing concerns about accountability and transparency.” In the meantime, she said Penn State will begin releasing an annual accountability report that will be publicly available by the end of this month. While the lawmaker said he would like to see the university go further and provide information not already available, he pointed out that neither Pitt nor Temple have stepped up to commit to providing more transparency.
When asked about that proposed tuition freeze, O’Neal told reporters he was encouraged Pitt was considering that for next year but added, “We’re not in next year yet. We’ve got to deal with it this year.” In her opinion piece, Bendapudi said the state funding Penn State receives is to used to discount tuition for Pennsylvania students, saving them an average $15,000 last year compared to their out-of-state peers.