HARRISBURG — Funneling grants to students rather than tax dollars to universities may be a better way to advance higher education, but the government cannot keep subsidizing state-supported universities at current levels, Gov. Tom Corbett’s top budget adviser told state senators today.

Charles Zogby said to the state Senate Appropriations Committee that the governor’s proposed deep cuts to four universities — Pitt, Temple, Penn State and Lincoln — is not the beginning of the end of state support for the schools.

“I think what the governor has launched and wants to pursue is a discussion around how best to achieve our goals in higher education and whether a shift from institutional funding to a focus on the student isn’t a more appropriate way to go about supporting higher education,” Zogby said.

He also said that it is difficult to see where there’s enough money in the budget to restore the money for higher education that Corbett proposes cutting.

Corbett last week proposed a cut of $625 million, or 52 percent, for the 14 state-owned universities in the State System of Higher Education and the four state-related schools, Pitt, Temple, Penn State and Lincoln. Overall, Corbett proposed reducing funding for higher education by about 44 percent to $836 million.

Zogby attacked tuition increases at some of the universities, and said it isn’t clear exactly what the state buys when it sends hundreds of millions of dollars to the institutions.

“They’re all good institutions. They’re valuable assets. ... It is a question of, well, what value we are deriving,” Zogby said. “What exactly are we buying?”