PSU president sounds hopeful about state funding

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Penn State president Graham Spanier says early indications from Harrisburg make him optimistic the school won’t see a repeat of the funding cuts the university sustained in the current state budget.

Spanier told a Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon on today that there haven’t been formal discussions with the Corbett administration, but the current signs are positive.

Spanier says the school doesn’t anticipate a repeat of the 2011-12 state budget, which cut about $220 million from Penn State and the 17 other state-related or state-owned universities. He says he doesn’t expect a substantial increase, either.

Spanier says one of Penn State’s biggest current challenges is maintaining its function as a land-grant institution despite seeing its College of Agricultural Science shed about 120 positions over the past year.