While Pennsylvania’s State University System languishes under falling enrollment and rising costs, New York state is taking a bold gamble on its public university system.

Beginning this fall, our neighbor to the north will offer tuition-free, four year college to any resident whose family’s annual household income is less than $100,000. The deal is valid for all City and State University of New York (CUNY and SUNY) colleges. Within two years the income threshold rises to $125,000.

The initiative, which was approved Sunday night as part of a state budget package, is bound to make other states sit up and take notice.

Among the most ardent spectators will be Pennsylvania, whose State System of Higher Education enrollment has fallen 12 percent in seven years. PASSHE officials recently hired a consultant to give recommendations that could include consolidating degree programs, revamping marketing and closing some campuses. That’s tantamount to admitting they don’t know what to do, but they have to do something.

University systems in other states are struggling with plunging enrollments and rising costs, particularly in the heartland and Northeast, according to the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.

But while Pennsylvania’s legislative budget process seems to reflect a regard for higher education spending as a necessary evil, to be financed begrudgingly, New York is taking a decidedly different approach.

New York’s fiscal 2017-18 budget of $151 billion includes $7.5 billion for higher education. The state has 19.75 million people, with the full-time equivalent of nearly 650,000 SUNY-CUNY students.

By contrast, Pennsylvania is considering a budget of about $32 billion, with about $1.35 billion earmarked for higher education. Pennsylvania’s population is about 12.75 million, with 104,779 enrolled in PASSHE colleges.

In some ways, comparing these neighbor states is akin to comparing apples and zucchini. Let’s not forget the 99,000 students, resident and nonresident, enrolled on Penn State campuses statewide, for instance. But the main issue and concerns are identical: an exodus of locally grown young talent to schools and jobs in states with greener pastures.

To overcome the exit bug, one big caveat was added to the SUNY-CUNY deal — the beneficiaries have to continue living and working in-state for a minimum four years after graduation, or pay back the cost of their education.

That wasn’t part of the original Democratic bill. Republicans insisted on the amendment, citing concerns about the ongoing “brain drain” of college grads moving away, particularly from rural areas of upstate New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, agreed with the Republicans on the residency requirement.

If Pennsylvania decides to follow New York’s lead — and we’re not ready to recommend either way — the deal must include such an anchor.

The deal also should include a tax exemption for parents of college students who are paying a conventional tuition.

It’s becoming increasingly futile resisting the notion that a K-12 education suffices; It may be time that a K-14 or K-16 universal system becomes the new standard. But the current financial approach won’t sustain expansion.

By requiring four years of postgraduate residency, maybe New York has come up with an answer to this chronic problem. Would that we Pennsylvanians had the luxury of time to learn from our progressive neighbors’ experiment.