The 115,000 students enrolled in Pennsylvania’s state-owned university system now have grounds for optimism that their education won’t be disrupted by a faculty strike.

It remains to be seen if state taxpayers also will have reason to be upbeat.

Terms of a “framework” for a new contract were hammered out in lengthy negotiations that began Friday and ended early Sunday.

The more than 6,000 unionized faculty members represented by the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties — including 475 faculty members at Slippery Rock University — have been working without a contract at the 14 state-owned universities since June 2011.

With union members already having authorized a strike, if necessary, the universities’ students have been living with the possibility that completion of the current term might not be on schedule.

In addition to disrupting the current term’s learning “rhythm,” a faculty walkout would have put on hold job opportunities and graduations, likewise vacations or other plans.

But despite what optimism students might have stemming from the announcement of progress, taxpayers have grounds to be concerned about the terms of the new agreement. Specifically, what will the new pact cost the state, thus the people whose taxes help fund the state system?

The union says “the general framework largely mirrors” agreements with other statewide unions, but until taxpayers hear the specifics, there’s no way of knowing whether they will agree with provisions of the accord.

It’s unclear how many details about the proposed contract package will be revealed prior to the coming membership vote. However, if the proposal is weak on faculty concessions, the contract will be no bargain for commonwealth taxpayers.

One of the major areas ripe for concessions is faculty members’ contributions toward their health care coverage. Both sides in the negotiations had agreed on wage increases based on state employee contracts.

Gov. Tom Corbett pledged Friday not to seek a third straight year of cutbacks in state aid for higher education. That should help the universities more easily meet the challenges that the new pact — assuming that it is ratified by both sides — might bring.

During the many months of stalemate, the union had accused the state system of making unreasonable contract demands. The question now becomes whether the state budget and the taxpayers who fund it are facing unreasonable expectations.