Local, state and University of Pittsburgh officials believe a tuition-free program for low-income students at Pitt regional campuses will improve academic accessibility, grow regional economies and close gaps in high-demand careers.
On Monday at Pitt-Greensburg, Lt. Gov. Austin Davis held a roundtable discussion with Pitt and Westmoreland County leaders about Pitt’s Regional Campus Tuition Pledge.
Pitt officials in April announced that Pennsylvania residents whose households make $75,000 or less will be eligible to attend tuition-free at its regional Greensburg, Johnstown and Bradford campuses. It also affects nursing students at Pitt’s Titusville campus.
“Pennsylvania families shouldn’t have to choose between affordability and a high-quality education, and this program is going to allow us to provide that high-quality education at a more affordable price,” said James Baldwin, vice president of enrollment at Pitt-Bradford.
In-state, full-year tuition for most programs at Greensburg, Bradford and Johnstown is $13,796, and Titusville’s nursing program costs $16,992. Basic tuition for in-state students at the Oakland campus is $20,966 for the arts and sciences, social work, dental and public health programs.
Davis said Pennsylvania ranks 49th out of the 50 states in higher education affordability and Pennsylvania students carry the third-largest student debt load in the nation. As a result, enrollment has dropped at most colleges statewide.
“These are challenging economic times for a lot of folks, and especially college graduates who are looking for their first job and struggling to pay back student loans,” Davis said. “The consequences for allowing the status quo to persist are real.”
Pitt Provost Joseph J. McCarthy said the tuition pledge is the first initiative explicitly targeted to regional campuses, and complements its Pitt Pell Plus program, where Pitt matches Pell grants. Setting a $75,000 adjusted gross income eligibility cap for the tuition pledge reaches families that just miss out on being Pell-eligible, he said.
The percentage of Pell-eligible undergraduates across Pitt’s regional campuses ranges from about 32% to 48%.
“We think it will cause a little bit of a demographic change, but it doesn’t change who we are and what we’ve been doing all along, and that is serving all of our students and hopefully seeing more of our students graduate with zero debt or a low amount of debt,” said Pitt-Greensburg President Robert Gregerson.
Gregerson thinks the tuition pledge could build enrollment within Greensburg’s education programs — students may be more likely to choose a career in education if they have little to no debt, he said. Pitt-Johnstown President Jem Spectar anticipates growth in engineering programs at his campus.
“We think the ability to attend Pitt for many families without paying tuition would make increased interest in these programs and strengthen Pennsylvania’s leadership role in key areas of workforce development,” Spectar said.
Pitt-Bradford’s Baldwin said the initiative goes beyond affordability — he predicts it will increase the number of Pennsylvanians who pursue higher education, and provide opportunities for workforce and economic development in the areas where regional campuses are located. Since the announcement, Pitt has heard interest from first-generation and non-traditional college students, Baldwin said.
Westmoreland County Commissioner Ted Kopas views Pitt’s decision positively. Westmoreland has sought ways to combat its population loss. While deaths still outpace births in the county, net migration has stopped, he said.
“Opportunities like this, for our young people to go to school for free, certainly provides them an opportunity to stay here and also helps in our efforts to bring folks outside of Westmoreland County into Pitt-Greensburg, get an education, and then go on to whatever opportunity they want to do next,” Kopas said.