Members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly applauded Lincoln University’s efforts to keep tuition affordable and limit college debt. These statements were made by representatives of both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees during the budget hearings in Harrisburg on Tuesday. Acting President Valerie I. Harrison advocated for additional funding for Lincoln.
“The University has taken very significant and specific steps to limit student college debt. We instituted a tuition freeze in February 2014, which allows a student who entered Lincoln as a freshman in the Fall 2014 to have the same tuition cost over the next three years,” Harrison said in her opening statement. “We believe that the four-year guarantee, coupled with our financial literacy curriculum, will motivate students to graduate in four years, a further step toward limiting student debt.”
Lincoln University is one of four state-related institutions that testified before the lawmakers. The presidents of Penn State University, Temple University and the University of Pittsburgh also participated in the hearings.
As a state-related university, the Commonwealth provides Lincoln with an annual appropriation, which was significantly reduced in 2011. Governor Tom Wolf has proposed a plan to fully restore the higher education cuts over the next two years. The General Assembly is working on their budget proposals and it is anticipated that a state budget will be approved by the General Assembly and Governor Wolf this summer.