Commission Meets on Post-Secondary Education
Posted September 15, 1999FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
York, Pennsylvania--The Commission on Postsecondary Education will meet on Wednesday, September 22, 1999 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 39, in the east wing of the Harrisburg Capital Building. They will discuss ways to effectively keep the cost down in higher education and how to ensure good quality at a low cost. Dr. George Waldner, President of York College of Pennsylvania, will be the guest speaker.
The commission will explore and define priorities for postsecondary education with particular attention to the efficiency and effectiveness of the current system to meet the goals of the public interest to be served, including; emerging technology, important cost drivers, and additional programs and advanced degrees in postsecondary institutions. They will review and recommend the realignment of current State policy to support these priorities. In addition, they will study the needs of the Commonwealth and its agencies for data and data analysis and recommend how these needs can be met.
The Commonwealth annually provides more than $1.6 billion to support higher education institutions in Pennsylvania and the student financial aid programs administered by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency. The House of Representatives believes that adequate access to postsecondary education programs continue to be unavailable to many Pennsylvania residents because of barriers which include, but are not limited to, financial issues.
The House of Representatives established a Commission on Postsecondary Education for the Twenty-First Century to study the issue of postsecondary education costs, especially the efficiency of the current system of funding higher education and the ability of that system to ensure that it is affordable. They are to provide recommendations to the Senate, the House of Representatives and the Governor regarding efficient use of State appropriations for postsecondary education and other legislative changes. The Commission consists of 14 appointed members.
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