In Defense of Temple

Now that the initial shock from Governor Corbett’s budget address has dissipated, people are beginning to discuss the consequences of the major cuts. In what is sure to be one of many arguments against Corbett’s drastic education cut, Jennifer at Young Philly Politics passionately explains the necessity of Temple University.

Temple is a solid choice for kids with choices, not necessarily the one ladder out of a hard neighborhood with bad schools and a family where no one has advanced degrees or degrees at all. But for some kids, Temple is still that ladder and those kids are important. They are from Philadelphia. And Temple might also employ their parents, family members, neighbors with solid union jobs. … Think through any one of those [cuts] and see what a mess we are in. Start with tuition hikes: Unless Temple ends anything close to normal financial aid practices, for every dollar you increase tuition, there will be students who need that much more aid. So you end up having to raise fees more sharply for those who can pay to make up for those who can’t. At some point, those who can pay stop looking at Temple as a surprisingly good deal with solid academics, and start looking somewhere more flashy and with a campus in a more idyllic setting than North Philadelphia. Enrollment drops. Even more jobs have to be cut, from one of the largest and most significant employers and economic engines in the whole city.

The cuts also impact Penn State, the University of Pittsburgh and Lincoln University.  [Young Philly Politics]