Pa. community colleges haven’t received their state funding this year, and it’s starting to hurt

Montgomery County Community College has cut back on some travel, dipped into its reserves, and set up a $10 million line of credit that it may soon have to draw from — all because it hasn’t received its state funding for the year.

None of the 15 community colleges in Pennsylvania, which educate about 230,000 students, have secured their funds.

That’s because even though Gov. Josh Shapiro signed the budget during the summer, the legislature has not passed certain code bills that would release the funding to select entities, including community colleges, explained Tuesday Stanley, president of Westmoreland County Community College in Western Pennsylvania and chair of the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges.

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“The colleges do not want to harm students or employees, so we are taking the burden on,” she said. “We really do need our funding.”

The commission last week released impact statements from the state’s community colleges, describing how they are coping without their share of more than $260 million. Many cited actions similar to those underway at Montgomery County. They include: drawing down on reserves, which means less interest income; arranging lines of credit; borrowing money at high interest rates; curtailing expenses.

Community College of Philadelphia says its biggest worry is that the gap in state funding will affect the school’s bond rating, resulting in higher interest rates for capital projects. Delaware County Community College said it will have to borrow from reserves and may have to pause some spending used to provide support to students.

“We’ve been trying to have the least impact that we can on delivering our highest quality of instruction and all of our support services,” said Victoria L. Bastecki-Perez, president of Montgomery County Community College. “But we’re at a critical juncture now, not having this large amount of funding available.”

She said that 24%, or about $21 million, of the community college’s $87 million operating budget comes from the state. The college, which served about 14,000 students last academic year, has set up a $10 million line of credit with a 6.63% interest rate and soon will have to begin drawing on it, she said. The school already has taken $2 million out of its reserves, and has renegotiated some contracts, cut nonessential travel and closed parts of buildings to save on energy costs.

The commission has asked the legislature, which will return for three days in mid-December, to approve the codes or another bill that would release funding, Stanley said. The colleges also have asked Shapiro to authorize the release of the funding.

But Manuel Bonder, Shapiro’s press secretary, said the governor does not have the authority to do that without enabling language from the legislature.

“We are urging them to get it across the finish line,” Bonder said.

Community colleges are among a small group, also including libraries, that have had their funding held up as the legislature continues to battle over certain spending priorities. Community colleges are the last of higher education institutions to wait for funding. The legislature came to an agreement on funding for the state-related universities earlier this month, dropping a requirement they freeze funding while expanding the required information they must release to the public, according to Spotlight PA.

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Stanley said the colleges already have missed one of their four annual payments from the state and are scheduled for their second in December. Even once the money is approved, it usually takes up to a month for colleges to receive it, she said.

For Montgomery County’s college, the payments it’s due by December will have reached about $10.5 million, the president said. Nearly one-third of the college’s students are first-generation attendees, 44% are students of color, and about 21% are recipients of federal Pell grants targeted toward lower-income families, Bastecki-Perez noted.

“These are individuals who really need us to be there for economic mobility, social mobility and also to change not only the destiny and trajectory of their lives but also their communities,” she said.