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In addition , while there are positive steps being taken to provide tax incentives for families , we are urging Congress to recognize that these programs do not eliminate the need for direct aid to help families pay for higher education . More than 650 CQI teams have identified ways to improve processes and work more efficiently . Overall , this approach has the potential to improve the quality of the Penn State learning experience for students and to do so in a very cost-effective way . This year 's budget includes a 2.0 percent salary increase pool that has been used for merit-based increases , as well as continuation of the Faculty / Staff Excellence Fund and the President 's Excellence Fund , which are used to recognize the University 's top-performing faculty and staff , and to address market and equity concerns . Several excellent examples of learning assessment practices at Penn State were cited by the Commission 's external review team , and the findings will be used to improve programs and services in the future . Not only is is literally tough to bite off and chew , but the leaves contain hard particles which are very abrasive to the teeth . The third recommendation is to improve student loan terms and conditions and to increase student loan borrowing limits . Further controls will only add to the costs of attendance for our students , while doing little , if anything , to improve quality . The resulting cost savings are mainly internal to the academic colleges and programs and are difficult to quantify , but we know that we are channeling our resources to more viable graduate programs .