KCTCS NEWS RELEASE - for immediate release
Contact: Bryan Armstrong, (859) 246-3210
KCTCS budget cuts to impact students, communities and industry
LEXINGTON, Ky. (January 30, 2004) – After sustaining four funding cuts in three years, colleges in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) are preparing budget-reduction plans that may include closing buildings, reducing programs and services, and limiting enrollment.
College presidents are determining which functions, services and programs will be reduced at each of the 62 campus locations across the state. “But we are determined to maintain the quality of our programs,” KCTCS President Michael B. McCall said.
As the state’s primary provider of workforce education, training and community development, KCTCS supports Governor Ernie Fletcher’s budget emphasis on promoting economic development, creation of jobs and strategic investments in Kentucky’s future. However, repeated budget cuts are forcing KCTCS to reduce operations across the state at a time when demands for programs and services are increasing significantly.
KCTCS enrollment last fall in credit programs exceeded 72,000 students. An additional 200,000 Kentucky citizens access workforce training and continuing education programs through KCTCS colleges each year. KCTCS colleges serve about 2,400 businesses and industries annually.
State appropriations have not kept pace with KCTCS growth. State funding for KCTCS is more than $60 million below the average of its benchmark states, and no new money has been appropriated to support a 58% increase in enrollment since 1998.
In January, KCTCS sustained two separate budget cuts:
A $4.4 million reduction in its state appropriation for the 2003/04 fiscal year, which ends June 30. The cut is recurring, meaning that the KCTCS base budget for next fiscal year and beyond will be reduced by the same amount.
A $5.9 million, non-recurring cut for 2003/04 that will be drawn from a variety of funding sources to help balance the state’s budget.
These most recent cuts come at a particularly difficult time, when the spring semester has started and the colleges have committed to students and industry that they will offer certain courses. The cuts this fiscal year come on top of cuts in the two previous years:
A $3.3 million recurring cut sustained in 2001/02.
A $4.4 million recurring cut sustained in 2002/03.
"KCTCS has already achieved significant efficiencies over the past five years through consolidation of colleges, elimination of low enrollment programs, and an enhanced statewide technology network,” McCall said. "Repeated budget cuts will not make significant differences in efficiency, but will directly impact students, communities and employers that rely on the education and training we provide, especially in the health care professions."
KCTCS is willing to do its part to assist the Commonwealth in balancing the state budget in the face of declining tax revenue. But communities need to understand that “programs and people are going to be impacted,” McCall said.
Across the Commonwealth, KCTCS colleges are bracing for the full effects of budget cuts, taking such measures as limiting enrollment; delaying new academic programs; closing buildings; canceling classes; forgoing purchases of instructional equipment; eliminating extended campus outlets; and reducing fire rescue training.
Over the last few weeks, as the state budget crisis has intensified, McCall has traveled the Commonwealth to generate support for the KCTCS legislative agenda, which can be viewed at www.kctcs.edu.
“We may need to limit enrollment,” McCall said. “KCTCS is doing all we can with the resources we have. The budget cuts are beginning to erode our ability to meet our goals and mandates."
KCTCS colleges change lives by providing academic and technical associate degrees; diploma and certificate programs in occupational fields; pre-baccalaureate education; adult, continuing and developmental education; customized training for business and industry; and distance learning. For more information, visit www.kctcs.edu .