Tom Corbett Tells Colleges To Drill For Oil

Could the key to higher education budget woes lie beneath the earth's surface?

It could, at least according to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett. At a recent meeting of the Pennsylvania Association of Councils of Trustees, the newly instated governor advised state colleges experiencing budget shortfalls to extract gas from the Marcellus shale deposits located underneath their campuses.

The Erie Times-News has more:

Speaking at Edinboro University during his first visit to northwestern Pennsylvania since taking office, Corbett said six campuses in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education sit on the Marcellus shale formations now being tapped for natural gas.

Corbett, whose proposed 2011-12 budget includes $2 billion in cuts to education and a 50 percent reduction in aid to colleges and universities, also emphasized that those cuts are only proposals.

Corbett's proposed cuts lead to protests in the state last month.