Letter to the editor: WCCC should have equitable funding
Westmoreland County Community College is facing a serious budget situation due to reduced funding from its local sponsor, Westmoreland County. The county support allows the college to charge a reduced tuition rate for county residents.
Consider:
• State code requirement for local sponsor funding (Westmoreland County): 33%.
• 2023 college funded by the county: $2,055,153 (6% of college operating budget).
• 2024 college funded by the county: $1,000,000 (3% of college operating budget).
The college has the least county support out of the other 15 Pennsylvania community colleges.
The college has the same operating budget this year as it did 15 years ago, despite salary and vendor contract increases. The college has been fiscally responsible. For perspective, Community College of Allegheny County gets 29%, Beaver gets 20% and Butler gets 16% from their respective counties.
In the article ”The college that almost wasn’t: WCCC marks 50 years” (March 10, 2020, TribLive), Westmoreland County Commissioner Doug Chew hailed the school’s role making higher education and career preparation accessible to those who might otherwise go wanting: “Community colleges are underappreciated by politicians, the public and sometimes the students, themselves. But no other system of education in the world does more to provide higher education.”
WCCC provides affordable, high-quality education to county residents. If Chew believes in the importance of the community college for the county, then we ask that we are equitably funded.
Michael Hricik
Mt. Pleasant
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