PASSHE requests funds to graduate students in high-demand fields
The board of governors for Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) on Thursday requested the state increase funding and provide a targeted investment to train students in high-demand fields experiencing worker shortages.
PASSHE is asking the state to provide $112 million for a strategic investment aimed at enrolling and graduating students in fields with significant labor shortages – health care, education, engineering, social work and computer science.
PASSHE said in a news release the funds would help “to address Pennsylvania’s talent shortage in industries critical to communities, to open doors of opportunity for thousands of low- and middle-income students of all ages, and to strengthen the state’s workforce and economy.”
Nearly all of that money – $99 million – would be used for student financial aid, making it more affordable for students to attend a university. The rising cost of tuition at colleges and universities is a significant cause of the labor shortage, PASSHE said in the release. Among the 14 State System schools is PennWest California.
According to PASSHE, 60% of jobs require some higher education after high school, but only 51% of workers have a degree or credential.
The State System also requested an inflationary funding increase of 3.8% to be used to help PASSHE freeze undergraduate tuition for all students for a fifth consecutive year.
PASSHE Board of Governors Chairwoman Cynthia D. Shapira said in the release, “This funding request would benefit all of our students by allowing the System to freeze tuition for an unprecedented fifth year. At the same time, our state can strategically target investments to help students enroll, graduate and enter jobs that have labor shortages and are vital to our communities.”
PASSHE Chancellor Daniel Greenstein said the proposal is intended to close the talent gap by investing in students graduating more people “able to enter fields that are essential to the health and well-being of Pennsylvania, and where there are worker shortages.”
“Our workforce needs more health-care workers to provide medical care, teachers to educate our children, engineers to improve our infrastructure, social workers to relieve people’s suffering and improve lives, and computer scientists to enhance and secure our digital world,” said Greenstein. “The State System is ready to meet the demands of our workforce. This proposal creates the path for students of all ages to get an affordable degree or credential to start jobs in high-demand fields, strengthen the workforce and do the work that all of us need them to do.”
A key component of the strategy is to enroll and graduate non-traditional students, including working adults who need short-term programs to earn industry credentials required to change jobs or advance in their careers, former students who didn’t complete their degrees, and college-age young adults not considering college.
The State System also is offering a wider range of credentials that can be earned in months – instead of years required for bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees – and that lead directly to well-paying, essential jobs that enable students to more quickly enter the workforce and earn a living wage to support themselves and their families.