Acting Pa. education secretary touts funding in IUP visit

Acting Pa. Secretary of Education Eric Hagarty remembers what it was like to shoulder student loan debt.

“The average graduate in Pennsylvania has somewhere just north of $30,000 in student loan debt, which is about what I had when I graduated college,” Hagarty told Indiana University of Pennsylvania administrators, staff and students during a Friday stop at the campus.

“It’s really difficult to start your careers when you sort of start with your financial debt in that space,” he said as he spoke about Gov. Tom Wolf administration’s “bold set of proposals” for state education funding.

“Over the last eight years, Governor Wolf’s office has been fortunate enough to have the chance to prioritize education funding, not only in the K-12 space, but in the higher education space,” Hagarty said.

The Legislature on Friday sent a $45.2 billion budget to Wolf’s desk that includes a $1.1 billion investment in education, something Hagerty termed “generational investments” in the education system.

Hagarty commended IUP for its recent 20% tuition decrease for Pennsylvania undergraduate students, which will launch in the coming fall semester.

“The 20% tuition reduction is a credit to the administration here who have done a fantastic job navigating enormous turmoil in the higher education sector,” Hagarty said, “Certainly IUP is a school that, not even just in the PASSHE system, but any of the 300 plus colleges and universities in Pennsylvania should look to as a model of excellence.”

In addition to meeting some IUP students, Hagarty said the goal of visiting the university was to advocate for state funding and student financial assistance mirroring IUP’s example.

“It’s always painful when you see people who have incredible potential leave Pennsylvania for more affordable opportunities elsewhere,” Hagarty said. “We wanted… to make sure that no other student attending IUP ever feels like they have to leave to go somewhere else because they can’t afford the cost of higher education.”