Shippensburg University announced in January that it will be fronting money to students who are still awaiting their grants from the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) and that PHEAA is expected to disburse funds in several weeks.

PHEAA’s website states that it is reviewing the governor and General Assembly’s actions before processing any money.

“Rest assured, we are working diligently to disburse award funds as quickly as we can,” the website states. “Please note that this affects all state and federal programs administered by PHEAA.”

Until PHEAA starts any disbursements, SU is offering up to $1,200 per student to about 2,000 students to clear their spring 2016 bill and to pay for housing, food and other expenses. SU sent emails to those students who receive PHEAA grants. Students whose bills are cleared and expect a refund should email the Financial Aid Office.

SU’s temporary solution is a result of Pennsylvania’s ongoing budget impasse and it mirrors the General Assembly’s stopgap. Legislators approved a budget late last December, but instead of agreeing on a new one they have adopted last year’s budget. The 2015-2016 budget is still being worked on, according to SU President George “Jody” Harpster, but with the current appropriation plan SU’s budget is going to be approximately $1 million short.

“We’re still going to be, in the spring, after all the cuts we’ve made and all the other things we have done, about a million dollars short,” Harpster said. “So we now work on an alternative plan to find another million dollars worth of cuts to make it until the end of this semester.”

Harpster said SU administrators started conversations about how to cut the deficit and balance the budget, but faculty entrenchment will not be considered. Though he was not able to name any specific cuts, Harpster gave examples of how money could be saved, including reducing landscaping services and waiting to repaint the walls of a building.

“At the current time there is no plan and no direct conversation underway to have any layoffs of any employees,” Harpster said. He said that applies for the current semester and the next academic year under the expected financial scenarios the university will be facing. Though faculty may not be laid off, there are 120 vacancies at SU in a multitude of positions. This is largely a result of employees resigning and their positions not being replaced, in order to save money.

The deficit may shrink by two-thirds if the General Assembly passes a new budget for this fiscal year, according to Harpster. Republican legislators said they intend to increase funding for the Pennsylvania State System for Higher Education by 3 percent or even 5 percent, which is drastically less than Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed 11 percent increase, but still enough to significantly help SU.

Harpster said some of the university’s budget problems will be solved once the per-credit-tuition model is implemented next semester. The model will charge students a tuition rate that is based on the number of credit hours a student takes per semester, and will generate additional revenue for SU and funds for student aid.

"This tuition -by -credit -hour plan is even more critical now, and we still intend to do it," Harpster said. "There is no evidence that the state is in a position, financially, to continue to fund us, or to increase the funding to a degree that we need.”

"I have confidence that there are bright, capable people in the governor's office and in the legislature that are going to come, eventually, to a reasonable outcome for all of us."

Harpster said that though there haves not been financial problems such as these in the two decades he has been at SU, he said the Ship Family will endure the budget cuts and still provide a high quality education focused on student success.

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