Performance-based funding council hears experts, flags data gaps and design risks for Pitt, Penn State and Temple

The Performance Based Funding Council met in Harrisburg to gather data and expert advice as it develops a performance-based funding process for the three state-related universities: the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania State University and Temple University. Chair Jesse Topper called the hearing to order and said the council’s work flows from Act 90 of 2024 and the legislature’s budget action last year.

The panel of state officials and national experts told the council that Pennsylvania lacks the data infrastructure it needs to track many post‑graduation outcomes that states often use in performance formulas. Andrew Armagost, special adviser to the budget secretary in the Office of the Budget, told the council that “these institutions receive approximately $552,000,000 annually since the 2019–20 fiscal year.” He also said the three institutions enrolled roughly 152,000 full‑time‑equivalent students in 2023–24, of whom about 116,000 received some financial aid and about 93,000 were Pennsylvania residents.

Why it matters: the formula the council recommends must be feasible to measure and defend to taxpayers. Council members and witnesses emphasized that metric choice, the proportion of funding tied to performance, and transitional safeguards will determine whether a formula improves completion, preserves access, or inadvertently shifts resources away from students and institutions that need them most.

State agency testimony and data limitations

Officials from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the Office of the Budget and the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) described existing datasets…