Penn State mulls private future

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STATE COLLEGE, Pa., March 14 (UPI) -- Penn State University could consider becoming private, looking to Cornell University as a potential model for the switch, a Penn State official has said.

Karen Peetz, the new chair of Penn State's board of trustees, said Tuesday the school would be cautious in considering a shift to becoming a private university amid deep state aid cuts and the growing pressure for the school to submit to Right-to-Know legislation, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Wednesday.

"I think the Cornell model is of great interest," she told the university's Faculty Senate.

Cornell University is private but receives state aid for four of its contract or statutory colleges.

Penn State, along with the University of Pittsburgh and Temple University, face a 30 percent cut in state funding under the budget Gov. Tom Corbett proposed in February. The three schools already had a 20 percent reduction in their appropriation this year, the newspaper said.

The schools have also come under scrutiny for their exemption from Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know act, which requires all government records to be open to the public.

Kevin Harley, Corbett's spokesman, said Tuesday the governor believes the three schools, along with Lincoln University, "should be subject to the Right-to-Know Law" if they receive state aid.