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In early July, a vote to fund the public missions of Penn State and our fellow state-related universities ended in a stalemate.
Nearly three months later, this funding for our Pennsylvania students remains unresolved.
I am urging lawmakers to vote to approve funding for our university and ultimately our students.
Penn State uses state funds exclusively to support in-state tuition for Pennsylvania students and families, which last year saved our 42,000 resident undergraduates an average of $15,000 each on tuition costs compared to their out-of-state peers.
This discount is especially important at our 19 undergraduate commonwealth campuses, where 78% of our students are Pennsylvania residents.
Without these critical funds, Penn State has temporarily redirected dollars from other sources to support in-state tuition for the fall semester and maintain our commitment to our Pennsylvania students and their families.
However, we cannot afford to subsidize in-state tuition indefinitely. It is crucial for our students that lawmakers act now.
I have heard the call from some lawmakers who want additional accountability and transparency.
I believe strongly that Penn State and all public universities must continue to be accountable for how taxpayer dollars are spent and for showing a return on investment for our citizens.
That is why I am calling on the General Assembly and the governor to work together with Penn State and all of Pennsylvania's public universities to design a performance-based funding model for higher education.
Distributing public funds this way ensures that universities and states are working together on shared goals for workforce and economic development.
Under a performance-based funding model, we ideally would grow the funding pie rather than just reallocate existing resources.
And we would reward institutions with additional dollars for achieving agreed-upon metrics.
In other states, those metrics include educating in-state students, supporting low-income and first-generation students, fostering studies in high-need career fields, and providing opportunities for traditionally underserved students.
An effective and fair performance-based funding model should be flexible, and it must consider the unique mission and structure of each university.
The model also must be simple, with clarity and transparency around what it is trying to accomplish, and the metrics must be aligned with the state's needs and priorities.
Above all, this must be a collaborative effort between lawmakers and the universities, with all stakeholders having a seat at the table.
I believe that implementing performance-based funding will go a long way toward addressing concerns about accountability and transparency.
While we await legislative action, however, I want to address this matter now. I have decided to proactively release an annual accountability report that will be publicly available by the end of October at psu.edu/accountability.
The report and webpage will focus on the information our lawmakers and the public request most often: financial reports, campus safety reports, and key metrics such as enrollment, student graduation and retention rates, student demographics, alumni wages and more.
While much of this information is already publicly available, we have consolidated it in one location and will update it regularly.
I believe this is a pivotal time for public higher education in Pennsylvania. Penn State remains eager to partner with the state to meet the challenges of today.
We also remain committed to accountability and to demonstrating outcomes.
With the state's support, we can continue to align our programs with the commonwealth's economic priorities and provide the highly skilled workforce that is necessary for Pennsylvania to compete nationally and globally.
Neeli Bendapudi has been Penn State's president since 2021.