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Herald-Leader
October 26, 2003
Hobnob, rub elbows, etc.
by Beverly Fortune
You will find many of Central Kentucky's business leaders at the Kentucky Community
and Technical College System President's Gala at 7 p.m. Nov. 8 in the new Bluegrass
Grand Ballroom of the Lexington Center. Tickets are $60. More details? Call
Kay Yates at (859) 246-3377.
Kentucky New Era
October 21, 2003
HCC alumna creates scholarship
An alumna of Hopkinsville Community College has created a new scholarship endowment
that is the first major gift for a recently launched fundraising effort at the
college.
Kyong Cha Anderson and her husband, Fred Anderson, were recognized Monday
during a news conference at HCC for contributing $100,000 as part of the Anderson
Endowment.
The new investment will provide scholarships for students who have demonstrated
the potential for achieving academic excellence. HCC's scholarship selection
committee will make the annual award determinations.
Kyong Anderson is president and chief executive officer of KCA Corporation
in Hopkinsville. She earned an associate's degree in business technology from
HCC in 1992.
She now serves on an advisory committee for the college's business technology
program and is a board member of the HCC Foundation, Inc.
"We hope our gift inspires others to invest in our community college,"
Kyong Anderson said. "HCC is an important resource for local students."
According to college officials, the "Fulfilling the Promise" major
gifts campaign is a statewide effort involving all 16 college districts that
belong to the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS).
Local fundraising efforts will focus on three primary projects: restricted
endowments such as scholarships and library support, unrestricted endowments
and construction of a proposed student services facility.
A campaign goal has not been set but should be announced by 2004, officials
said.
Courier-Journal
October 27, 2003
Candidates are silent on college costs
LEXINGTON, Ky. — LeRone Edwards works a part-time job and has taken out
thousands of dollars in loans to attend the University of Kentucky and pay his
living expenses.
The 18-year-old freshman from Lexington, who lives "paycheck to paycheck,"
said tuition can't keep rising at double-digit rates and remain affordable to
him and other students.
"It will help out everybody in the long run" if college costs stabilize,
Edwards said. "More people will be able to go to college and they'll get
jobs and help improve the economy."
But neither Democrat Ben Chandler nor Republican Ernie Fletcher, in their campaigns
for governor, has offered a specific plan to address the rising cost of Kentucky
higher education. Edwards said he's noticed that, and other students say they're
bothered by it.
"It's frustrating that they're not trying to do something," said
Chris Jones, 18, a UK freshman from Lexington.
Students at Kentucky public universities and community and technical colleges
are paying record tuition this year — in some cases more than 20 percent
above last year. It's a situation faced by students at many schools throughout
the country as state spending on higher education has been slashed.
In 2001-02, Kentucky cut $17.3 million out of the $986 million public university
budget, a 1.9 percent decrease. That was followed by a $24.4 million cut in
2002-03, a 2.6 percent decline, although the legislature returned about $18.9
million to the universities this year.
But with a projected revenue shortfall of $262.4 million this year and as much
as $500 million for 2004-05, the schools are preparing for more cuts, and are
thinking about tuition increases again next year.
Despite the cuts and tuition increases, preliminary enrollments at Kentucky
public universities and the community and technical colleges are at record levels,
according to the Council on Postsecondary Education. An estimated 226,910 students
are enrolled this fall, the council said; more accurate figures won't be available
until early next year.
Western Kentucky University President Gary Ransdell describes the situation
as "unfunded enrollment growth" and agrees with students that the
lack of plans by the candidates for governor to address it is frustrating. "But
I understand the realities of a political campaign," he said.
The schools' growth, meantime, has compounded their revenue problems.
"You can only cram so many kids in a classroom," said King Alexander,
president of Murray State University. He said Murray State might have to cap
its enrollment.
The two candidates have said little about higher education. In recent interviews,
both said they support the 1997 reforms pushed by Gov. Paul Patton. They also
said they'll seek to direct more money toward higher education, money generated
by reducing the state work force, improving efficiency in state government and
creating jobs that will produce new tax revenue.
But both warned that universities may not get more money in the short term.
They said they don't agree with raising taxes to get more funding that could
go to higher education but are willing to modernize the tax code in a way that's
revenue neutral.
Chandler also has proposed expanded gambling but said he would dedicate the
money to higher salaries for elementary and secondary teachers, and other school
improvements.
Ronald Eaglin, president of Morehead State University, said he's not opposed
to belt-tightening.
"But we've been tightening our belts for 21/2 years, and we're bracing
for another cut," said Eaglin, who is preparing for cuts of 2.6 percent
or 5 percent this year.
"If we have to go to 5 (percent) it will be fairly traumatic," he
said, saying anything more than that could result in a mid-year tuition increase.
University presidents said that in meetings with the candidates, neither offered
specific promises on funding or preventing further cuts. But the presidents
said the next governor will have to address higher education spending or risk
hurting quality and access.
"If there isn't any relief fiscally, then I think the only alternative
open to higher education is to raise tuition, which is basically a user tax
no matter how you look at it," Eaglin said. "We're still a bargain,
but I don't know how long you can raise tuition until you affect access. We're
not at that point yet."
A national problem
David Breneman, dean of the Curry School of Education at the University of
Virginia, said the financial crunch facing Kentucky colleges is happening across
the country.
States are cutting university budgets, leading to skyrocketing tuition with
which state and federal financial aid doesn't keep pace. The effect is particularly
hard on low-income students, Breneman said, especially as more states focus
their aid on merit rather than need.
The College Board reported last week that the average four-year public college
tuition is $4,694 this year, $579 more than last year and a 14.1 percent increase.
"For the first time in the post-World War II era there will be a significant
number of young people that just don't get into college," Breneman said.
"I'd predict we'll see a declining share of high school graduates going
on to college for the first time, practically, in our history."
UK's Edwards said he didn't learn until a week before he graduated from Paul
Laurence Dunbar High School in Lexington that he'd be going to college. At that
time, he was notified of his financial aid package, which included a combination
of grants and loans. Many of his friends enrolled at Lexington Community College
rather than UK, he said, because LCC is cheaper.
Jennifer Williams and her best friend from Bowling Green had talked for two
years about enrolling at UK and rooming together in a dorm, Williams said. But
when UK raised tuition 15 percent this year, Williams' friend stayed at home
to live with her parents and attend Western Kentucky University, Williams said.
"It's something that students have been talking a lot about in the dorms,"
she said. "Room and board has gone up and tuition has gone up, but we don't
see any benefits. Higher cost, but no improvements."
No quick solutions
While Chandler and Fletcher said they believe tuition should be as low as possible,
both also said they might not be able to boost higher education budgets anytime
soon.
"We do pretty well when it comes to where we rank nationally" on
state funding to higher education, Chandler said. But he said universities may
need to retrench in the short term.
Fletcher said he thinks universities are among the state agencies that can
become more efficient, although he'd seek to find more money for them.
The candidates said they support the 1997 higher education reforms, which created
the community and technical college system and charged universities with increasing
enrollment, improving research capacity and working more collaboratively.
But without more money, higher education could suffer, university presidents
say.
"Ultimately the question becomes are we still moving forward with the
(reform) mandate and are we improving quality," said University of Louisville
President James Ramsey, who said UofL is actively working become more efficient.
In an e-mail to students last week about a proposed mid-year tuition increase
of $200, WKU's Ransdell said, "The signs of compromise of academic quality
at Western are clear."
He cited cuts to some academic programs, fewer new faculty than needed to handle
an enrollment increase of 3,700 students in the past four years, and teaching
and research equipment that hasn't been replaced.
Under Ransdell's plan, tuition and fees would rise to $2,025 starting in the
spring 2004 semester.
Bucks for Brains
Although Chandler and Fletcher have not offered a funding plan for higher education,
they have expressed support for the Bucks for Brains research program in which
the state matches money universities raise in the private sector to hire prominent
faculty.
But the candidates said they are not sure there will be enough money to fund
the program, which has received $350 million since its inception in 1998. The
General Assembly paid for the first $230 million out of the state's General
Fund, but this year approved issuing $120 million in bonds for a third round
of the program.
Ramsey told the legislature last year that if it funded a third round of Bucks
for Brains, he wouldn't ask for another. He said in an interview he's less concerned
with a fourth round of the program than with getting increases in UofL's base
budget and finding money to construct new research buildings.
Other university presidents agreed their primary goal is funding their base
budgets, and University of Kentucky President Lee Todd said if the state does
fund another round of Bucks for Brains it should allow schools to use the money
to build research facilities as well as hire faculty.
Chandler and Fletcher have offered ideas for increasing university research.
Fletcher said he would work to bring a federal research lab to Kentucky. He
acknowledged that the idea is not a new one, but said his ties to President
Bush and his connections in Congress will help get one funded.
"I have a much better capacity and understanding of the federal level,
so I think I bring a lot more skill to bring more federal funding to our universities,"
Fletcher said.
Chandler said he supported the idea but questioned why Fletcher, who has been
the 6th District congressman since 1995, hasn't already delivered a research
lab to the state.
Dave Appler, Washington liaison for the Federal Laboratory Consortium on Technology
Transfer, said if Kentucky is to get a lab it has to demonstrate to Congress
what the state's researchers can do to make it worth the cost. He also said
federal research and development spending has remained flat in recent years.
"In order for research activity to be established there, with the federal
research and development budget staying flat, you'll have to take it from the
other states," Appler said. "So what's going to be your target?"
Chandler's idea to spur research is to offer a tax credit to corporations that
sponsor research at Kentucky universities. Asked the dollar value of such a
credit, Chandler said he wasn't set on a firm number but would pay for it through
a reduction in the number of state employees. He said the state would recoup
the revenue from the credit through the creation of jobs based on the research.
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