By Maddie Aiken, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The Tribune Content Agency
When Pennsylvania's state universities sought a new chancellor more than six years ago, the board of governors knew they needed a visionary to lead the struggling system, recalls board chair Cynthia Shapira.
Enrollment was plummeting each year, and finances were bleak.
Board members thought they found a "change agent" in Daniel Greenstein, a former administrator in the University of California system and adviser for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Now, six years later, it's apparent to Ms. Shapira that Mr. Greenstein lived up to these hopes - and more.
"I think we got more from Dan than we expected," Ms. Shapira said.
Mr. Greenstein ended his tenure as the state system's chancellor on Friday. His next stop is at advisory firm Baker Tilly, where he will serve as a higher education adviser
His six-year stint as chancellor was marked by tremendous changes for the 10 state-owned universities, which in Western Pennsylvania include Slippery Rock University, Pennsylvania Western University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
During his leadership, the universities saw seven consecutive years of tuition freezes, the consolidation of six struggling universities into two, a systemwide redesign and the first flat enrollment report in more than a decade.
Reflecting on his tenure, Mr. Greenstein believes he and other leaders achieved "some pretty audacious things."
"If we get our arms collectively around something, we can get it done," Mr. Greenstein told the Post-Gazette in an interview this month. "There's nothing we can't do when we work together on it, and I think we've done some pretty audacious things."
Joni Finney, a Pennsylvania-based education consultant, said the now former chancellor "really steadied the ship" during a difficult time for the system.
"He should feel good about his time in Pennsylvania," Ms. Finney said. "I think he really made an important contribution."
Historic state support and tuition freezes
Ask Mr. Greenstein about his proudest accomplishment as chancellor, and he will tell you it was the seven consecutive tuition freezes.
Since 2018, in-state tuition at the 10 state-owned universities has remained steady at $7,716. Factor in inflation, and a Pennsylvania public university education is now about 25% cheaper than it was six years ago, Mr. Greenstein said.
Those freezes were largely possible due to heightened support from the legislature. During Mr. Greenstein's tenure, funds to the state system in the Pennsylvania budget surged 33% - from $468.1 million in 2018-19 to $620.8 million in 2024-25.
Ms. Shapira said Mr. Greenstein dove into his role knowing he "had to bring the legislature and governor along." The chancellor spent countless hours in Harrisburg meeting with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to advocate for system support.
The time poured into these talks - and the tuition freezes that they yielded - have reshaped how Pennsylvania students and parents view the state system, especially as college sticker prices across the nation skyrocket, Ms. Shapira said.
"[Tuition freezes] have been the primary thing that overall our stakeholders have looked at and said, 'Yes - This is a system that cares, this is a system that puts students first and is doing everything it can to make itself affordable,'" Ms. Shapira said.
And system leaders are directly attributing steady enrollment this year to those freezes.
For the first time in more than a decade, the system's year-by-year enrollment changes remained relatively flat in fall 2024. Total headcount stands at 82,509 students, down 179 students - or 0.2% - from last year.
That's significant as enrollment challenges have plagued the system for years. When Mr. Greenstein started his tenure, the system's total headcount was 98,350 students. Each year during his leadership - with the exception of this fall - the system lost between 1,800 and 5,000 students.
Stabilizing enrollment was "obviously a big deal," Mr. Greenstein said, but it wasn't necessarily at the forefront of his goals. His focus was rather on increasing the number of credentialed workers that the state universities produced.
"It's about workforce development in the state," the chancellor said. "...As the state-owned universities, we have an obligation to help the state fill [workforce] gaps."
Controversial consolidations
When Mr. Greenstein started his chancellorship, the system boasted 14 universities.
He leaves behind a 10-university system.
That's because of the system's decision to consolidate six universities - each battling significant enrollment challenges and financial woes - into two, tri-campus schools.
In Western Pennsylvania, California University of Pennsylvania, Edinboro University and Clarion University merged to form Pennsylvania Western University, while on the eastern side of the state, Bloomsburg University, Lock Haven University and Mansfield University combined to create Commonwealth University. The campuses began enrolling students under their new umbrellas in fall 2022.
It was a controversial decision - one that Mr. Greenstein said made him "the least popular person in Pennsylvania." Some PennWest faculty members say their campuses still grapple with growing pains from the merger.
System leaders maintain that the mergers, though difficult, were necessary.
And they were perhaps ahead of the curve on what could become a trend in higher education as enrollments plummet at many smaller, regional schools.
Last month, Erie's Gannon University announced plans to merge with Ursuline College in the Cleveland area. And across the country, 16% of university presidents have discussed merging with another institution in the past year, a recent survey by education consulting firm EAB found.
Mr. Greenstein "saw the writing on the wall," Ms. Finney said. She believes it's too early to know if the consolidations will work in the long-term. PennWest saw an uptick in graduate enrollment this fall, but overall continues to struggle with enrollment losses.
"But it did send a message to the legislature that [Mr. Greenstein] was very concerned about these things," Ms. Finney said. "He was taking these issues of declining enrollment very seriously, and was going to consolidate.
"I think they heard that, they saw that, and they responded with support."
Looking ahead
Looking to the future, Ms. Shapira believes the system's next chancellor must "build upon [Mr. Greenstein's] vision for what a system can really do."
The system has launched a national search to name its next chancellor by spring 2025. In the interim, retired West Chester University President Chris Fiorentino is leading the 10 universities.
The system needs a leader who can maintain the universities' financial health and keep tuition flat, or even lower it, Ms. Shapira said.
Securing unity across universities and campuses will also be key, she said.
"We still have vestiges of not understanding what working collaboratively and cooperatively [looks like], and not being just about competition," Ms. Shapira said. "What can we accomplish if we work as a system? I think that's the next step for the next chancellor... having the vision - and ability to implement that vision - about what we could be doing as a system."
As for Mr. Greenstein, he believes the system's next leader must be able to listen and "distinguish signal from noise."
"You never want to react too soon, and you never want to react too late," the former chancellor said. "To really understand what's happening on the ground, you have to be available and present and appreciative and learn."