What was most noteworthy about two area university rallies last week in opposition to Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed budget cuts was the low attendance at those events.

At Slippery Rock University, only about 100 students, faculty members and administrators showed up. Meanwhile, at the much larger main campus of the University of Pittsburgh, only about 200 students and others attended — some probably attracted by the prospect of free pizza.

The low attendance at both rallies, including a hard-to-miss lack of interest by parents, means either that the impact of less money from the state is not fully understood or that there’s a belief among many people that the state’s public universities are capable of absorbing the Corbett cuts without a major negative impact on the universities’ operations, course offerings and activities.

Perhaps many more people plan to make their opposition to Corbett’s proposed education funding cuts known through letters, calls and other communication with their lawmakers. But if the past is any barometer, that doesn’t seem likely — at least not on a big scale.

The wake-up call regarding what the commonwealth’s fiscal crisis means will come only if universities impose big tuition increases for the start of fall classes because of Corbett’s proposed 50 percent state funding cutback.

Or, maybe there really is an attitude, dormant up to now, that it’s time for universities to tighten their belts, just like Pennsylvania’s average citizens have had to do to deal with wage freezes, contract concessions and even loss of employment.

Many state residents, having witnessed major construction projects and facilities improvements on campuses, have wondered whether all of that spending really was necessary for the schools to continue to provide the quality education they traditionally offered.

Whether or not Corbett’s proposed cuts are excessive — and now they’re just proposed cuts; they must be approved by the General Assembly — the state’s 18 public universities now face a time of intense soul-searching and plotting of their future direction. There is no guarantee that the challenges of the 2011-12 state budget preparation won’t reappear for 2012-13, and maybe for some years beyond, depending on the national and state economies.

It should be a concern for Slippery Rock and Pitt that such small turnouts occurred over such an important issue. Like it or not, the message delivered by those weak turnouts was not the kind of message each school hoped to deliver to Corbett and lawmakers.

Perhaps activities planned in the weeks ahead will spawn more interest and intensity of purpose, but last week’s rallies were barely enough for anyone in Harrisburg to notice.