4 state-owned Pennsylvania universities add degree programs

Four of Pennsylvania’s state-owned universities Tuesday unveiled new degree programs developed in concert with local employers.

The programs, a bachelor of science in information technology at Millersville, master’s degree programs in accountancy and social work at Slippery Rock, a master’s in physician assistant studies at West Chester and a doctorate in health sciences at East Stroudsburg, represent the latest piece in an ongoing redesign effort at the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education or PASSHE, the umbrella organization that encompasses Pennsylvania’s 14 state-owned universities.

PASSHE Chancellor Dan Greenstein said each of the new programs was proposed and developed by individual universities in concert with employers in their regions.

“As we redesign the entire State System, aligning our programs with workforce needs is vital, not just to the future success of our students, but to the future of the Commonwealth,” Greenstein said. “Each of these new programs was developed with both of those goals in mind.”

The 14 universities, including California, Clarion, Edinboro, Indiana and Slipper Rock in Western Pennsylvania, enroll just under 100,000 at campuses scattered across the state.