WHEREAS, The Community College of Philadelphia is a vital institution of higher education, offering more than 70 associate’s degree and academic and proficiency certificate programs that are accessible to a wide cross-section of Philadelphians; and
WHEREAS, During the 2017-2018 academic year, the Community College of Philadelphia enrolled approximately 27,729 students including 13,361 full time students. The diverse racial makeup of its students is as follows: 50.8% African-American, 24.1% White, 14.8% Hispanic/Latino, 10.4% Asian/Pacific Islander, and .3% Native American; and
WHEREAS, The role of community colleges is crucial to strengthening the regional workforce in an increasingly technological and global world. Furthermore, they are an invaluable resource in our communities in addressing some of our most pressing issues; and
WHEREAS, When the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania founded community colleges in 1963, it mandated equal funding from three sources: the State, the City, and students; and
WHEREAS, The City has not been meeting its mandatory minimum appropriations to the Community College of Philadelphia for many years. As a result, there is an increasing financial burden placed on the students; and
WHEREAS, Community College of Philadelphia’s operating budget for the Fiscal Year 2018-2019 is $134,712,576. Students provide 55% of the revenue through tuition and fees while the State is only providing 24% and the City is only providing 19%; and
WHEREAS, It is long overdue to critically examine why the City of Philadelphia has not been providing the minimum revenues required by the State to fund Community College of Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, It is the City’s responsibility to begin the process of developing a plan to meet its financial obligation so that that Community College of Philadelphia can have the resources that are necessary to serve its students and the City of Philadelphia with high quality public higher education; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That it hereby authorizes Council’s Committee on Finance and the Committee on Global Opportunities and the Creative/Innovative Economy to hold hearings regarding the development of a responsible financial plan to meet the City’s requirement to adequately fund the Community College of Philadelphia as required by state law.
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