STATE COLLEGE — Leaders at Penn State and the University of Pittsburgh are warning of dire consequences to Pennsylvania colleges and universities after Gov. Tom Corbett proposed slashing funding for the state’s major higher education institutions by more than 50 percent.

The proposed cuts targeted the 14 state-owned universities in the State System of Higher Education, along with the four “state-related” schools of Lincoln, Penn State, Pitt and Temple. Corbett unveiled his $27.3 billion state budget Tuesday, his first since winning election in November.

Penn State president Graham Spanier said the proposal could “fundamentally change” the way the university operates, while another school official warned of potential massive layoffs and tuition increases.

“We are committed to finding every possible way to reduce expenses and maintain quality,” Spanier said in a statement Tuesday. “We face difficult choices and this will be an extremely challenging year — one that quite possibly will change the face of higher education in the Commonwealth.”

Pitt chancellor Mark Nordenberg said the proposal contained “stunningly deep cuts to the support that has long been provided to public higher education.”

“In practical terms, the proposed cuts are a renunciation of the commitment made by the Commonwealth to Pennsylvania families with college-age children in the mid-1960s,” he said in a statement posted on the university’s web site.

Elementary and secondary education weren’t immune as well after the governor proposed cuts including a 10 percent reduction, or about $550 million from money for instruction in K-12 public schools.

At Penn State, cutbacks weren’t unexpected. School officials anticipated as early as last summer of potentially leaner times with federal stimulus money drying up and stagnant appropriations in recent years — though they said they did not anticipate the steep cuts unveiled Tuesday.

The university said proposed cuts totaled about 52 percent, to $182 million, which also included reductions in agricultural extension and the loss of federal stimulus dollars. State-related schools are only partially supported by legislative appropriations and are not under direct state control; at Penn State, such funding represents about 8 percent of the budget.

Penn State officials did not receive advance notice of the cutbacks, nor did they have any discussion of the potential impact of cuts with the state, the university said.

Funding for state system schools was slashed by roughly 53 percent to more than $232 million. System spokesman Kenn Marshall said leaders there would reserve comment until after school presidents and the board of governors reviewed the proposal over the coming days.

Proposed cuts for Pitt and Temple brought funding for each school to about $80 million. Temple president Ann Weaver Hart said the proposal “dramatically alters the relationship between the Commonwealth and these schools.”