PASSHE seeks $112M to bolster engineering education

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education said that it has a plan to help address the shortage of engineers.  

The State System is seeking $112 million in state funding to produce more graduates in six in-demand, high-growth jobs, including engineering.   

It said that Pennsylvania and the nation have a persistent shortage of engineers needed to build critical infrastructure, such as expanded broadband, roads and bridges, water services, and rail, air and clean energy projects, and to support manufacturing and other opportunities in the economy. 

It cautioned that unless we strengthen the talent pipeline by educating and training more engineers, these projects risk being delayed, scaled back, or eliminated.
 
PASSHE would allocate $3 million¬ to support engineering – $1.5 million to expand the high-cost program and $1.5 million to provide direct financial relief – saving high-need engineering students an average of $5,000 per year.

Making a degree more affordable would encourage additional people to pursue careers as civil engineers, electrical engineers, industrial engineers, mechanical engineers and more, PASSHE said.

Separately, PASSHE is seeking $573.5 million, an inflationary increase of $21 million, enabling the board of governors to consider freezing the basic in-state undergraduate tuition rate for an unprecedented fifth consecutive year.