"Do we need all these campuses?" State Sen. Jake Corman (R., Centre) asked Tuesday, promising that the Senate would examine the proliferation of satellite campuses.
Within hours of Corbett's budget address, college leaders, union heads, and Democratic politicians were marshaling to fight the cuts.
"There is a trend underlying all this - that is to defund public education and to defund particularly public higher education," said Art Hochner, president of the Temple University faculty union. "As if higher education is some kind of private good that individuals get and therefore they ought to pay for it, and pay good bucks for it, as opposed to a public good where the state benefits from investing in having an educated workforce and people who pay taxes."
Pennsylvania won't return to the age of big steel, oil, and mining, where jobs were plentiful for people who had only basic education, he said. That makes college an ever more important investment.
Corbett's proposed higher-education spending of $978 million would be 35 percent lower than the $1.51 billion spent by Gov. Rendell in his last budget.
Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R., Delaware) stressed that the legislature intended to scrutinize college funding in light of the bleak job picture.
"We have to look at post-high-school education," he said, "and focus on linking to careers in an era of high unemployment and recession."
As Corbett announced his budget, he also announced the creation of a panel to study ways to make higher education accessible and affordable to students - and to taxpayers.
"We need to open the discussion about how best to finance higher education in this state," Corbett said.
The 30-person panel will be led by Rob Wonderling, president of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. He released a statement saying he was honored to serve, but was unavailable for further comment.
