U.S. Says Pennsylvania Must Reapply for Stimulus Funds, Including 4 Universities Omitted

On paper, at least, Pennsylvania’s four state-related universities have won the first round in a fight over federal stimulus money meant for public schools and colleges. But that doesn’t mean they’ll actually see any of those dollars.

The U.S. Department of Education has told Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat, that he must include Lincoln University, Pennsylvania State University, Temple University, and the University of Pittsburgh in the state’s application for fiscal-stabilization funds made available by the federal stimulus legislation enacted in February. After originally earmarking some $42-million for the four institutions, the governor revised the state’s application and reallocated their money to the 14 colleges in the state system.

Mr. Rendell has said that he does not regard the four affected institutions as “fully public universities.” The money for the four was to have offset a proposed 6-percent cut next year in state appropriations for each institution.

But after complaints from the state’s Congressional delegation, the Education Department has weighed in on the side of the state-related universities, according to today’s Philadelphia Inquirer.

The governor’s office, however, insists that it still has the power to decide how to allot that money and whether any of it will go to the state-related institutions, the Inquirer reported.

The dispute is complicated by the fact that the Keystone State still lacks a finished budget 13 days after the start of the new fiscal year. And on Monday, Democratic leaders in the state House of Representatives unveiled a budget bill that would eliminate all funds for higher education, suggesting that colleges would have a separate account outside the general fund but providing few details about where the money would come from, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. —Eric Kelderman