Can’t Cut, Can We?

While Pennsylvania’s public universities continue to cry poverty, pesky facts keep proving otherwise.  Here’s a snippet from a piece by Debra Erdley in yesterday’s Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Professors at Pennsylvania’s 18 state-owned and -related universities fared well in their paychecks last year compared to colleagues at comparable schools across the country, according to a new survey….

The numbers also showed average salaries at Pennsylvania’s four state-related schools — the University of Pittsburgh, Penn State, Temple and Lincoln universities — eclipsed averages at comparable schools in nearly every category. Average salaries for full professors ranged from $133,500 at Penn State to $97,000 at Lincoln. Associate professors earned averages ranging from $92,200 at Temple to $73,800 at Lincoln.

Although professors at the 14 State System of Higher Education schools earned slightly less than most of those at the state-related schools, their earnings also eclipsed averages in nearly every category among comparable schools.

Whoops.  And as we’ve said before, a salary freeze (the faculty unions’ main concession right now) is a start, but only that.  Rather than screaming for more money, be it through taxes or tuition, these institutions need to do exactly what Pennsylvania families are doing—more with less.