The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) is a state agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that oversees 10 state-owned universities. Collectively, it is the largest provider of higher education in the commonwealth. All of the schools are primarily NCAA Division II members and affiliated with the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). PASSHE should not be confused with Pennsylvania's other state-funded university system, the Commonwealth System of Higher Education that includes the land grant university (Pennsylvania State University), three historically private universities (Temple University, Lincoln University, and University of Pittsburgh), and the related campuses of the four institutions. History The Normal School Act of 1857 was passed on the last day of session on May 20, 1857. Its passage created 12 normal school districts in the state in which to establish private corporations answerable to the State Superintendent of Common Schools. Afterward, the School Code of 1911 mandated that the Commonwealth purchase all the normal schools. The normal schools evolved from state normal schools, to state teacher's colleges, to state colleges. Act 188, which was signed into law on November 12, 1982, and came into effect on July 1, 1983, established the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, and converted those state colleges into universities. 2022 consolidations A plan to merge six of the current PASSHE institutions into two multi-campus universities is ongoing as of July 2021. There was huge public outcry against the plan. As it faced opposition by the Lock Haven City Council, the Clinton County Commissioners, the Clear Coalition, the Party for Socialism and Liberation Chester County, PASSHE Defenders, AFSCME Council 13, Pennsylvania AFL–CIO, APSCUF and a slew of public comments. Groups like APSCUF, AFSCME, and the Pennsylvania AFL–CIO held a press conference May 3, 2021, to speak out in opposition to the consolidation. PASSHE Defenders & the Party for Socialism & Liberation Chester County held rallies across the state at the campuses slated for consolidation and at the state capital Harrisburg. The plan being a part of the larger state system redesign was shown to have disastrous effects according to a report out of the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The report titled "The Economic Impact of the PASSHE Employment Reductions" outlines "[The] large cuts in staffing, both of faculty and of professional and classified staff in good unionized jobs, constitute the core of the restructuring. The cuts, amounting