LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has announced new plans for investments in higher education.
His proposal has several layers. One notable change would require all the state's universities and community colleges to participate in a new governance system.
"Whenever I hear the words, 'cooperate, collaborate, build,' those are all good initiatives. And that's what this is about, higher education in Pennsylvania moving forward," said Thomas Leary, president of Luzerne County Community College in Nanticoke.
Leary and other campus leaders from across the state recently met with the governor. Leary says one key takeaway of this proposal is making education more affordable.
"The families and individuals that we serve come from median-income families, and they are the most economically vulnerable," said Leary.
Under Gov. Shapiro's proposal, there would be a tuition cap of $1,000 per semester for Pennsylvania students whose family income is lower than $70,000.
"The cap, I think, will help enable many families who might look at this as a financial burden to be able to plan better on how to achieve their goals in an affordable way," explained Leary.
The next step is putting these ideas into action. Leary says this is just the beginning of the process of helping students prepare for success in the workforce.
"We are going to be meeting over the next several months because there are obviously a lot of details and specific outlines in this plan that have to be formulated, and we will have those meetings moving forward to hopefully achieve the governor's objectives."
More details on this plan are expected during the governor's budget address in February.