HARRISBURG, Pa. — Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi testified to state lawmakers on March 11 that continued investment in the University’s students and mission represents an investment in Pennsylvania’s young people and the state’s economic future.
Appearing before the Pennsylvania House Appropriations Committee as part of the state’s annual budget hearings, Bendapudi echoed the message she shared ahead of the hearing: public funding plays a vital role in keeping tuition costs lower for Pennsylvania residents while supporting the University’s broader impact across the state.
“Greater investment in Penn State is vital to our access and affordability mission and to offering innovative academic programs that align with Pennsylvania’s workforce needs — thus supporting our efforts to attract the state’s brightest students and prepare them for successful careers here in Pennsylvania,” Bendapudi said in a prepared statement to the committee.
The hearing included leaders from the four state-related universities — Penn State, the University of Pittsburgh, Temple University and Lincoln University — and touched on a wide range of topics impacting higher education and the commonwealth. Topics included performance-based funding; campus safety; workforce development; the statewide higher education landscape, including Penn State’s Commonwealth Campuses; collegiate athletics; artificial intelligence; tuition costs; and more.
"What started as a small, agricultural institution has continued to evolve,” Bendapudi said. “We’ve responded to new generations of students, new areas of knowledge, new forms of dissemination, and new challenges facing the commonwealth and the world. Change has never been separate from our mission; it has been essential to it. Every chapter of Penn State’s history reflects that adaptation, from meeting our students where they are, to strengthening academic excellence, to deepening our impact."
The hearing concluded with a message from Rep. Jordan Harris (D-Philadelphia), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, on the value of higher education — and the state-related universities specifically — to the commonwealth’s success.
“We take for granted the fact that we in Pennsylvania have some of the finest institutions of higher education known to the world,” Harris said. “The four that sit here are some of the finest who have educated folks who go on and, literally, not only change the trajectory of Pennsylvania, but change the trajectory of this country and of the world. … So, as we debate over the next few months on what the budget is for these institutions, let us also remember that as we hold folks accountable for the dollars and cents, that these aren't just dollars and cents, but actually the investment in the future of the state, the country and the world that we say we want to see.”
The annual budget hearing for the state-related universities marks one of the milestones in the state’s annual budget process. Lawmakers will now consider funding levels for Penn State, including the possibility of implementing performance-based funding, leading up to the state’s June 30 deadline to pass a final 2026-27 budget package.