Governor drafting plan to help Pennsylvania higher ed system that's among the worst in affordability

Gov. Josh Shapiro plans next month to propose an overhaul of a higher education system in Pennsylvania that is among the worst in the nation in affordability, his administration said Friday.

Aspects of the plan will include lowering tuition at state-owned universities, streamlining degree programs and funding institutions based, at least in part, on performance metrics. It also would mean more grant money, including for students who attend private universities in Pennsylvania.

The administration did not release many specifics and said the Democratic governor would give more details in his Feb. 6 budget address, using ideas that sprang from a working group of college and university presidents assembled by Shapiro last year.

In his budget address last year, Shapiro said it is time “to rethink our system of higher education – because what we’re doing isn’t working.”