Dive Brief:
- Dan Greenstein, chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, plans to step down from the post on Oct. 11. Greenstein, who took over in September 2018, signaled in an open letter that he was leaving to work on higher ed issues at the national level.
- In a press release, PASSHE credited Greenstein with “leading a system redesign effort that has resulted in improved financial stability for the system, increased new-student enrollment, restored legislative relationships and increased state investment.”
- PASSHE’s board of governors plans to begin a national search for the system’s next leader and will appoint an interim chancellor when Greenstein departs in October.
Dive Insight:
Greenstein’s legacy as chancellor of PASSHE will likely center on his push to remake the system, consolidating six of its regional institutions into two, leaving the system with 10 institutions. Greenstein lobbied for the merger to stabilize the financially struggling colleges, which were chronically losing money.
Specifically, PASSHE brought together California, Clarion and Edinboro universities in 2022 to form Pennsylvania Western University; and Bloomsburg, Lock Haven and Mansfield universities to make a new university dubbed Commonwealth.
The plan faced backlash, some of it fierce, at the time.
As one observer said in open comments ahead of the changes wrote, “The universities have already been stripped of just about everything they were and are already a shell. Now you are taking the very last thing they have, their identity, and getting rid of that as well.”
The then-head of the system’s faculty union told Higher Ed Dive in 2021 that morale on campuses reached “an all-time low.”
Last fall, more than two years after the merger was approved, the two newly formed institutions saw the largest year-over-year enrollment drops of the PASSHE system, which has been struggling with headcount declines for over a decade. Together, the two newer universities lost around 2,500 students.
The system’s finances overall are, however, in better shape. In fiscal 2023, PASSHE ran a $267 million surplus between total revenues and expenses, compared to a $32 million deficit in fiscal 2021.
Over those two years, the system benefited from an increase in revenue from state appropriations of more than $65 million. The system also cut total expenses by $291.4 million.
Cynthia Shapira, chair of PASSHE’s board of governors, said in a statement that Greenstein has been “singularly focused on redesigning PASSHE and positioning it for the future.”
For his part, Greenstein said in a statement that “perhaps the single most important thing we’ve done is freeze tuition every year since I arrived, thus securing PASSHE’s place as the most affordable four-year option for students.”
He attributed the ability to do so to “our universities in controlling costs, because of the mission-mindedness of the Board of Governors and because of the renewed investment by the legislature and the governor.”
Greenstein said in his letter that he would be able to share more details about his next career role in September.
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