In Search of a New Name for a New Kind of University
System
The previous blog post noted that the Pennsylvania Constitution contains provisions that bear directly on the substantial differences between the fourteen PASSHE, a.k.a. “State-owned” universities on the one hand, and the four “State-related” universities on the other.
We noted that a key reason why the new university system will never be called a “State-related” system stems from provisions in the Pennsylvania Constitution, including: Section 14 - Public School System; and Section 15 - Public School Money Not Available to Sectarian Schools.
Another section of the Constitution is also relevant to the difference between “State-owned” and State-related universities, namely Section 30 - Charitable and Educational Appropriations. It reads as follows:
“No appropriation shall be made to any charitable or educational institution not under the absolute control of the Commonwealth, other than normal schools established by law for the professional training of teachers for the public schools of the State, except by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each House.” (Emphasis added.)
The Definition of a “Normal
School”
From Encyclopedia Britannica, a “normal school” is an archaic term coined in the 19th Century to describe what would later become known as a teacher-training college or teachers’ college in the 20th Century.
All 14 of the current PASSHE Universities in Pennsylvania began
as private normal schools in the years between 1837 and 1893. In 1911, a revised School Code was enacted
which authorized the Board of Education to purchase the State Normal Schools,
prior to which time, they simply received State subsidies. Pennsylvania’s State Normal Schools began to
be called State Teachers’ Colleges in the 1920s, State Colleges in the early
1960s, and have been called State Universities from 1983 to the present time.
A Difference in
Terminology
Section 30 of the Pennsylvania Constitution provides a subtle distinction between “State-related” and “State-owned” universities without ever invoking those specific titles. The most recent revision of the Pennsylvania Constitution occurred in 1968, fourteen years before passage of Act 188 of 1982 which changed Pennsylvania’s thirteen State Colleges into State Universities and, together with Indiana University of Pennsylvania which already held university status, created a public corporation now known as PASSHE—the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education—consisting of the fourteen “public,” or “state-owned,” or “PASSHE Universities.” That time lag may account for the difference in terminology.
Consider the second clause in the one-sentence entirety of the Constitution’s Section 30 above:
“other than normal schools established by law for the professional training of teachers for the public schools of the State,”
The words in the above clause, ‘normal schools established
by law for the professional training of teachers for the public schools of the
State,’ is a clear reference to Pennsylvania’s fourteen former Normal Schools, which
later became State Teachers’ Colleges, then State Colleges, then State
Universities, and finally today are often referred to as the fourteen PASSHE
Universities.
With that understanding, this clause from Section 30 of the Pennsylvania Constitution makes it clear that only the 14 PASSHE Universities are constitutionally entitled to receive State appropriation—without the need for a two-thirds majority vote in both houses of the State Legislature.
It is in that sense that State funding of the PASSHE system of fourteen universities is said to be “preferred funding,” meaning that it only requires a simple majority vote in both houses instead of a two-thirds vote.
Now consider the wording of Section 30 with that second clause temporarily omitted:
“No appropriation shall be made to any charitable or educational institution not under the absolute control of the Commonwealth, except by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each House.”
This wording from Section 30 provides a Constitutional basis for funding all four of the “State-related” universities, three of which—Pittsburgh, Temple and Lincoln—were completely private institutions prior to receiving that status. It also provides a basis for funding Penn State which, although Pennsylvania’s “Land Grant University,” was itself initially chartered as a private institution.
But notice that the State-related universities do not receive “preferred funding” but instead require a two-thirds majority vote in both Houses of the Legislature to receive their annual funding.
Despite this seemingly large obstacle to State funding for State-related universities, history shows that those universities apparently possess sufficient political clout to regularly meet or exceed the two-thirds majority vote threshold.
A Fundamental Difference
While the Pennsylvania Constitution provides for a difference in the way the PASSHE Universities and the State-related Universities are funded—the difference being “Preferred” vs. “Non-Preferred” status—the fundamental difference between the two types of universities stems not so much from their State funding arrangements but rather from the enormous differences in institutional purpose and character, as readily revealed by means of a comparison of their official public statements regarding institutional purposes.
Institutional Purpose and Character
Only the fourteen PASSHE Universities possess the institutional purpose and character needed to fulfill the Constitutional challenge with regard to “public higher education” from Section 14 - Public School System.
According to Act 188 of 1982, the statutory purpose of the 14 PASSHE Universities is “To provide high quality education at the lowest possible cost to the students.
This combination of high quality education with the lowest possible cost to the students has been the hallmark of “public higher education” in America since its inception in the 1830s.
To be continued.
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