PRINTER'S NO. 3352
No. 414 Session of 1998
INTRODUCED BY WILT, CALTAGIRONE, CAPPABIANCA, KAISER, ALLEN,
DEMPSEY, BOYES, CLYMER, DRUCE, PISTELLA, KENNEY, MASLAND,
M. COHEN, ORIE, COLAIZZO, DALLY, LESCOVITZ, ARGALL, FORCIER,
STABACK, BOSCOLA, HENNESSEY, DENT, SCRIMENTI AND
D. W. SNYDER, APRIL 1, 1998
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON RULES, APRIL 1, 1998
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
1 Directing the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to
2 examine or analyze the family characteristics of
3 undergraduate students attending associate and baccalaureate
4 degree-granting colleges and universities in Pennsylvania.
5 WHEREAS, Tuition increases at both public and private
6 institutions of higher education have caused concern for
7 Pennsylvania's families; and
8 WHEREAS, Despite these tuition increases, ever greater
9 percentages of Pennsylvania high school graduates have been
10 attending some form of postsecondary education upon graduation
11 from high school in recent years; and
12 WHEREAS, Increasingly large numbers of adults are returning
13 to colleges, universities and technical schools; and
14 WHEREAS, These ever increasing numbers of students are
15 attending Pennsylvania's postsecondary institutions because
16 today's economy requires more advanced education in order to
17 obtain a good-paying job; and
1 WHEREAS, The General Assembly has appropriated over $1.5
2 billion in the 1997-1998 fiscal year to subsidize the higher
3 education of Pennsylvania residents; and
4 WHEREAS, Despite this generous support from the State, the
5 increasing numbers of students attending higher education
6 institutions strains the Commonwealth's ability to provide
7 generous subsidies to all who attend; and
8 WHEREAS, The General Assembly can only spend a limited amount
9 of State taxpayer resources on higher education; and
10 WHEREAS, Without the State's large independent sector of
11 higher education, which enrolls 40% of the students and whose
12 students receive a much smaller State subsidy for their
13 education than students attending public universities, the
14 Commonwealth's ability to provide generous subsidies for higher
15 education would be strained even further; and
16 WHEREAS, Numerous news accounts report that students and
17 families have been assuming larger amounts of debt in order to
18 finance their higher education; and
19 WHEREAS, State policymakers need more detailed information
20 about how much subsidy they are providing to students and
21 families from different economic levels attending the various
22 sectors of higher education in this Commonwealth in order to
23 establish the best policies for funding higher education;
24 therefore be it
25 RESOLVED (the Senate concurring), That the General Assembly
26 direct the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to examine
27 the family characteristics of undergraduate students attending
28 associate and baccalaureate degree-granting colleges and
29 universities in Pennsylvania; and be it further
30 RESOLVED, That education and income levels as well as the
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1 methods and proportionate mix of resources used to finance the
2 postsecondary education of these students be given primary
3 attention; and be it further
4 RESOLVED, That the committee shall cooperate with both public
5 and independent colleges and universities and the Pennsylvania
6 Higher Education Assistance Agency in the design and
7 implementation of the study, including the development of a
8 stratified student sample on which the analysis will be based;
9 and be it further
10 RESOLVED, That the committee shall have the power and may
11 engage an impartial, professional firm with the ability and
12 experience required to perform this task; and be it further
13 RESOLVED, That the committee issue its findings to the
14 Governor, the General Assembly, the Secretary of Education and
15 the State Board of Education no later than October 1, 1998.
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