Former West Chester University president is the new chancellor of the Pa. state system of schools

Christopher M. Fiorentino on Thursday was named permanent chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.

Fiorentino, an economist and former West Chester University president, had been serving as interim leader of the system, which educates 82,000 students in 10 universities across the state.

He faces challenges including a declining enrollment base, stiff competition in a crowded higher education market, and a softening economy.

Still, “Chris is the right person at the right time,” Cynthia Shapira, chair of the system’s board of governors, said during Thursday’s meeting. “A lot of this is about timing, and what’s needed now, looking into the future and also looking at a continuum of critically important work that’s on the docket and how that can lead to a future vision.”

The former economics professor, 71, who retired from West Chester in June after a 40-plus-year career there, initially said he did not want the permanent state system job.

But that changed as Fiorentino dove into the work, Shapira said.

“After several months of becoming really engaged around the critical and important issues and opportunities, I would say he became just totally energized,” Shapira said. Instead of being exhausted or overwhelmed by leading such a large and complex organization, “it had the opposite effect” on Fiorentino.

After an undisclosed person nominated Fiorentino for the permanent chancellor’s role, he decided to formally go for it, Shapira said. Over a nine-month national search, a broad and diverse candidate pool developed, including a majority of people with direct experience as college presidents or chancellors of systems.

Fiorentino “went up against some truly incredible candidates to earn this appointment,” she said.

Fiorentino, who was paid $475,000 annually as interim chancellor, moves into his new role Friday. His new salary has not yet been set, a spokesperson for the state system said.

The vote to appoint him was unanimous.

A visibly enthusiastic Fiorentino said after a career spent in higher education, he thought he was finished, but is now excited to step into a role that has “the greatest potential to have an impact of anything I’ve done in my 41-plus years” in the state system.

“We face many challenges, we have a lot of work to do, there’s no question about it,” Fiorentino said. But, he reminded the board, the system is also “an engine for students to be put on different life trajectories. It provides livelihoods for our faculty and staff. And it’s a powerful economic engine for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. We collectively do incredible things.”

Fiorentino succeeds Daniel Greenstein, who left the state system in October after six years as chancellor.

Just before the board voted to appoint Fiorentino, it heard about troubling enrollment trends, both nationally and in Pennsylvania.

Natalie Cartwright, the system’s chief data officer, noted that the number of high school graduates in Pennsylvania shrank from 130,000 in 2011 to just over 125,000 in 2023.

“This represents a slow but persistent erosion of the traditional student pipeline,” Cartwright said. More than 90% of the system’s students are Pennsylvania residents.

“We’re not necessarily losing students to competitors, we’re simply serving a pool that’s getting smaller year by year,” Cartwright said.

It’s a crowded higher education market, with 265 institutions across the commonwealth, and overall, fewer high school graduates are attending college at all.

Pennsylvania Department of Education statistics show that just 58% of students in the state enrolled in two- or four-year colleges in 2023-24, down from a high of 71% in 2010-11.

“This is not just a Pennsylvania issue — it’s a national issue,” Cartwright said. “Surveys show students increasingly question the value of higher education. They find the landscape confusing, and aren’t sure where to turn or what path to take, and as a result, many opt out entirely, further reducing the number of students available to enroll, and deepening the disconnect between education and workforce needs.”

Still, Fiorentino said, the system has compensated, freezing tuition for several years running and hoping to do so again, despite financial challenges.

Tuition for in-state residents is $7,716 per year, “which is a very high-value proposition for the quality of education that our students are receiving,” Fiorentino said.

But perhaps even more crucial than holding the line on tuition, state system schools have doubled the amount of financial aid that they are providing to students.

In total, the system’s universities are giving $140 million out of their operating budgets to students for financial aid.

“They are dedicating significant dollars under very difficult budgetary constraints to provide this extra support to our students,” Fiorentino said.

State allocations have risen from 28% to 35% of the state system’s funds in the last several years.

That means, Fiorentino said, that the average net price of a state system education is lower today than it was in 2018 because of increased financial aid.

That’s compared to an average net price that has risen 8.5% nationally since 2018, he said.

Still, difficult choices are likely on the horizon as the system’s schools seek to remain competitive and prepare students for the job market.

Twenty percent of the system’s majors, Fiorentino said, graduate fewer than 60 students over four years — and changes may need to be made.

(According to state system data, there were just four library science graduates in 2023-24, 13 architecture graduates, and 38 philosophy/religion graduates.)

“I’m not saying that we should start eliminating mass numbers of programs,” but perhaps the system may need to move on program sharing, consolidation within universities, or “where might we have to put programs in moratorium because we simply can’t compete anymore in those markets? These are all conversations that have been going on on the campuses, but we need to move past conversations and we need to start getting results, getting actions.”