Kentucky’s Council on Postsecondary Education is making a run at more funding for state colleges and universities.
The CPE will ask the legislature for 4.9 and 5.3 percent increases respectively for the upcoming two-year budget cycle. The request comes as higher education state funding has dropped by nearly a third since 2008.
CPE president Robert King says the drop in funding has impaired the number of degrees handed out in Kentucky.
“It has forced the campuses to have to raise some additional funds through tuition,” King said. “That’s making going to college more expensive and to some extent that’s discouraging some people from either enrolling or staying enrolled."
"In addition, it’s limited our ability to provide as many classes, as many faculty members as would be necessary to really drive those numbers as aggressively as we would like," King said.
King said despite the setbacks, campuses have been doing “heroic work” to keep the CPE’s degree goals on track.
The legislature will consider higher education funding as part of the new biennial budget when it convenes in January.
