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