I have recently gotten some flack from some of my reader base coming from the great state of Kentucky. Apparently they were feeling like a “red headed step-child” since I have not covered any college affordability news in their region… Hopefully today’s article (as grim as it may be) will help to satisfy their concerns and provide them the attention in which they yearn. 😉
The state of Kentucky is following suit with numerous other states in that they are having budget issues that deeply impact the way they provide higher education to their students. Recently, the Kentucky Council for Post-Secondary Education imposed a 4% to 6% limit (cap is set by institution) on how much tuition can be raised for the upcoming 2010-2011 academic year (Details Below).
This is certainly great news for the students attending these schools but the college administrators are thinking otherwise. Given the current state budgets (or lack there of) the colleges are questioning the limit on tuition increases because even if they impose the full percentage allowed, they still will be unable to get out of the red and into the black (meaning.. they won’t have enough current revenue to cover current expenses).
After maximizing the full tuition increase allowed, the following is a sampling of some of the budget issues schools will be encountering:
- University of Kentucky – Will have a $7.6 million dollar operating deficit
- Eastern Kentucky University – Will have a $3.8 million dollar deficit
- Kentucky State University – Will have a $6.2 million dollar deficit
- Morehead State University – Will experience a $3.8 million dollar deficit
Given these budget shortfalls, any extra-curricular programs or activities on these campuses may be under scrutiny (and possibly on the chopping block) if the Kentucky Public College System doesn’t collaboratively work with State of Kentucky and the Council for Post-Secondary Education to come up with some viable solutions. In the meantime, the students get the benefit of this decision (capping tuition increase), for the short-term, in their checkbooks when it comes time to make those tuition payments.
Unfortunately, those students that are used to receiving funding from the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA) may need to start looking at other options based upon an announcement earlier this week. It appears that KHEAA has ran out of funds and is in the process of sending letters out to 16,599 students to let them know that they will not be receiving any assistance. The maximum amount of this award for the coming academic year is $1,900 per student. Local colleges are going to try and minimize the impact for their students but they say that the pool of money allocated for these situations is quite small and will never be able to fully cover the loss…
Well… that is my Kentucky Higher Ed snapshot for the day.. some good news (cap on tuition increases), some bad news (KHEAA grant out of funds), and some ugly news (state budget crisis impacting public colleges).
Here is the information regarding the pricing for the 2010-2011 academic year:
Increase up to 6 percent
University of Kentucky
Freshman/sophomore
2010-11 ceiling: $8,610
Increase: $487
Junior/senior
2010-11 ceiling: $8,859
Increase: $501
University of Louisville
2010-11 ceiling: $8,424
Increase: $480
Increase up to 4 percent
Kentucky Community and Technical College System
2010-11 ceiling: $130 per credit hour:
Increase: $5 per credit hour
Increase up to 5 percent
Western Kentucky University
2010-11 ceiling: $7,560
Increase: $360
Eastern Kentucky University
2010-11 ceiling: $6,628
Increase: $316
Kentucky State University:
2010-1 ceiling: $6,216
Increase: $296
Morehead State University
2010-11 ceiling: $246 per credit hour
Increase: $12 per credit hour
Murray State University
2010-11 ceiling: $6,264
Increase: $288
Northern Kentucky University
2010-11 ceiling: $7,128
Increase: $336