PHEAA Board Approves 2007-08 Administrative Budget
Budget Includes a Minimal 1.8% Increase
HARRISBURG, PA (June 22, 2007) - PHEAA’s Board of Directors announced their approval of the 2007-2008 PHEAA Administrative Budget. The budget contains no taxpayer dollars and is funded solely from PHEAA’s business earnings.
Total operating expenses for the 2007-08 Administrative Budget are set at $288.7 million, representing a 1.8% increase over the projected 2006-07 budget results which will end June 30, 2007.
“This minimal increase in PHEAA’s Administrative Budget is proof of the Board’s commitment to making PHEAA one of the most efficiently run organizations of its kind in the nation,” said PHEAA Board Chairman, William F. Adolph. “Faced with increases to healthcare costs, gasoline and a two cent postal rate increase on more than 60 million pieces of correspondence each year, PHEAA staff and Board members have done what they’ve been charged to do - keep costs as low as possible.”
“We are continually identifying and implementing operational efficiencies at all levels of the organization to keep our administrative costs as low as possible, even in the face of rising costs for services that are beyond our control,” notes PHEAA President and C.E.O. Dick Willey. “Working in a constantly evolving industry like student financial aid, we must anticipate changes that may impact our bottom line. By building our business relationships to increase incoming revenue and doing things smarter and reducing costs now, we put ourselves in a competitive advantage for the future.”
PHEAA’s budget also includes $20 million to administer state-funded student aid programs for the Commonwealth, such as the $386 million State Grant Program, ensuring that every dollar appropriated to student aid goes directly to students. PHEAA will supplement the State Grant Program for 2007-08 with an additional $75 million from its business earnings, allowing thousands of additional students to receive State Grant awards.