Massive cuts to education in Pennsylvania budget - Samuel Davidson, WSWS

Massive cuts in public education, universities and other social programs where among the major items in a $27.15 billion dollar budget passed by the Pennsylvania state legislature and signed into law by Republican Governor Tom Corbett. Higher education has also taken a massive cut. The 14 state-owned universities are having their budgets cut nearly 20 percent. They have already announced that tuition will increase by 7.5 percent. In addition they are cutting $33 million by eliminating teaching positions and course offerings. The four state-supported universities, Penn State University, Lincoln and Temple in Philadelphia, and the University of Pittsburgh, are each seeing their state support cut by 19 percent. Temple University is raising tuition by 10 percent. Lincoln is expected to follow but has not yet announced it decision. PSU and University of Pittsburgh already had the highest tuition for four-year public universities in the country in the 2009-10 school year, according to the US Department of Education.