Lincoln University students marching 66 miles to Harrisburg to fight for state funding
OXFORD, Pa. (CBS) -- Students from one of Pennsylvania's four state-related universities will march over 60 miles to Harrisburg starting Friday to demand the Pennsylvania Senate pass a bill to fund their school.
Lincoln University, a historically Black university in Chester County, is waiting on $19 million in Commonwealth funds, part of a $642 million package allocated for the four state-related schools - Temple, Penn State, Lincoln and the University of Pittsburgh.
This year's funding has been frozen since June.
Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed an increase in funding to the state-related schools to keep them whole as federal aid shrinks.
The Pennsylvania House passed the funding bill after the schools agreed to freeze tuition for the 2024-25 academic year. But the bill still needs to be approved by the Senate. In the meantime, the schools are waiting.
"For us, the delay really hits us because it's our operations. And so we manage with any cash that we have sitting around," Lincoln President Brenda Allen told the Associated Press last month. "These days -- not a lot of cash is sitting around."
The Senate is back to work on Monday, Nov. 13 - and that's when the marching students expect to arrive in Harrisburg after walking 66 miles.
There, students, faculty and supporters plan to rally on the Capitol steps to stress the urgency of the need for funding.
"Resources are so limited," Mackenzie Hanks, a junior at Lincoln University, told CBS News Philadelphia's Aziza Shuler last month. "I'm afraid that it will get to the point where we will not be able to keep our teachers."
Lincoln is expecting an additional $3.8 million from the Commonwealth compared to last year.
The school received $15.9 million from the Commonwealth for the last fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2023.
If the Senate passes the bill, Temple is set to receive $169 million and Pitt is set to receive nearly $166 million. Penn State would get over $259 million.
The state-related schools are not public, but receive state funding.
