Leaders of the four Pennsylvania public universities met in Harrisburg to discuss state funding of the 2016-17 fiscal year on Wednesday.

However, this comes at a time when the 2015-16 budget has yet to pass, leaving the four universities with $0 of state appropriations for the past eight months.

That creates a combined $600 million budget gap among the four universities.

Penn State spokesperson Lisa Powers said this annual trek is a chance for leadership to talk about their universities and prove their value.

Penn State President Eric Barron was unable to attend, so Vice President and Provost Nick Jones represented Penn State.

University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Patrick Gallagher, Lincoln University Interim President Richard Green and Temple University President Neil Theobald joined in representation of their respective school.

Each took a turn on the podium in the Capitol Rotunda.

Jones said as the land-grant university, it created a new kind of higher learning that helps “serve humanity through its outreach.”

Beyond the $225 million gap, Jones said there is an extra $45 million lacking in support of the agricultural department and research.

Penn State was founded in 1855 as one of the first land grant universities, according to the Penn State website.

Powers said that if the state takes away the agriculture grant, having to limit it “fundamentally changes who we are.”

And the other campuses are experiencing their own issues.

“Spending on education is an investment,” Theobald said.

Temple is responsible for a public hospital in Philadelphia, and Theobald said the lack of state funding will limit the aid they can provide.

Gallagher said when it comes to budgets, nothing moves much on the university end except appropriation and tuition.

For Lincoln University, Green said the concern is the ability to make opportunities for students without state funding, as it makes up an approximate 25 percent of its budget.

Student government leaders were also present, including University Park Undergraduate Association President Emily McDonald and Graduate and Professional Student Association President Kevin Horne.

Ryan Valencia, UPUA chair of Governmental Affairs, said he is “hopeful, but cautious.”

Both parties are willing to invest, Valencia (senior-international politics) said, but they are still pointing fingers across the aisle.

The four leaders met with the Senate at 10 a.m. and House at 1 p.m. earlier in the day.

Barron released his written statement since he was unable to speak in Harrisburg.

Barron said in the statement, “There is no public research university or flagship campus in the United States that doesn’t receive financial support from its state.”

Theobald said he was quite pleased with the understanding seen in Harrisburg, but the universities have done their part; it is time for the state to do theirs.