When the leaders of Pennsylvania's four state-related universities testified before the state Senate Ap-propriations Committee on Tuesday, they all had a common goal: to convince the state Legislature that their schools need more state funding.

What they did not have in common is how they arrived at the hearing: Penn State President Graham Spanier was the only university president at the hearing who had traveled to Harrisburg that day on a university-owned aircraft.

Penn State operates two planes, Spanier told the state House Appropriations Committee last Wednesday during a part of the hearing in which representatives had questioned him about the university's attempts to keep costs down.

Spanier traveled by plane to Harrisburg to testify before both the state Senate and state House Appropriations Committees over the last two weeks in his effort to lobby for more state funding for Penn State.

Penn State spokesman Tysen Kendig said it would "not be uncommon" to have a driver come from Penn State Harrisburg or Penn State Hershey to meet Spanier at the airport in Harrisburg to take him to the Capitol.

"Obviously, he would need some mode of transportation to get from the airport to wherever he would need to go within the capital," Kendig said.

Expenditures in 2004-05 from the university's Educational and General Budget for the aircraft were $760,773, according to a report the university provided to the state House Appropriations Committee. The report says that the budget is "supported mostly by tuition and appropriations."

The report also states that operating private aircraft is a common practice among universities, particularly those that are located in more rural areas without major airports nearby, Kendig said.

Kendig said the cost of purchasing the planes also came from the Educational and General Budget.

"Spanier makes decisions on spending that lead to increases in student tuition," said Rep. John Maher, R-Allegheny and Washington.

Maher questioned Spanier about the planes at the state House Appropriations Committee hearing last week and suggested it might be more cost-effective for Spanier and other administrators to travel in a van or a car to Harrisburg.

The planes registered to the university by the Federal Aviation Administration, both Raytheon Beechcraft King Air B200s, are used for "travel to partner institutions in the Big Ten and elsewhere, travel for fundraising and athletic recruiting," according to the report.

Athletic revenue, not state appropriations or tuition money from the Educational and General budget, funds trips for athletic recruiting, according to Kendig.

Kendig said that he was not sure when the planes were purchased and that he does not know how much they cost.

A new Raytheon Beechcraft King Air B200 aircraft currently sells for a little more than $5 million, Mike Turner, Raytheon's senior manager of public relations, said.

There are many different variables that indicate how much the planes cost to operate, Turner said.

"You have figured in engine times, engine overhauls, where you're buying fuel, how much the pilots are being paid. There's a variety of different elements that factor into that," he said.

Leaders of Pennsylvania's other state-related universities also testified before the state House Appropriations Committee last week in an effort to increase state funding for their schools.

"After the surprise revelation of Penn State's small air force, each of the other state-supported universities was asked whether they had any aircraft," Maher said. "None do."