Are worries over funding for Penn State University ringing alarm bells in Carlisle?

Officials at revenue-strapped schools, including Penn State, are battling proposed cuts in state funding. They told legislators they could be forced to close branch campuses.

Penn State could see funding cut by 30 percent under Gov. Tom Corbetts proposed budget. Its state funds were slashed 19 percent last year. Meanwhile, Penn State could be weighing the viability of its 19 branch campuses, medical college and Dickinson School of Law campuses in State College and Carlisle.

It raises the question. Is the law campus in Carlisle, which Penn State threatened to close in 2003 and has just 50 first-year students compared with 130 at the law campus in State College, again vulnerable?

No, school leaders say. Dickinson Law is stronger than ever. It might feel cuts, but there are no plans to close the Carlisle campus.

Dickinson Law is doing very well, but like Penn States other colleges and campuses, the school has to find ways to do more with less in these times of increasingly scarce resources, university spokeswoman Lisa Powers said.

Dickinson Laws budget is separate from the university spending plan, although it receives about $5 million annually from Penn State. The 2010-11 law school budget was $28.6 million. Powers said money from the university helps cover costs associated with having a second law campus.

Dean Philip McConnaughay said the school is better poised for success than it has been in decades.

It is breaking ground in student body diversity and drawing more and higher-caliber applicants. Some of the worlds top law scholars have joined the faculty. It has gained national recognition for programs.

I do not foresee any significant budgetary issues that could affect or in any way diminish our ongoing two-location operation, McConnaughay said.

Original post:
Penn State Dickinson School of Law not threatened by funding cuts