TOPEKA | Kansas higher education officials will unveil
proposals to raise tuition at the state’s public universities Thursday.
The potential tuition hikes are prompted by large funding cuts from the state, which has seen its revenues plummet in the recession.
Officials wouldn’t disclose details about the proposed increases today, but said they’ll strive to minimize any increases knowing the downturn impacts families as much as it does the state’s coffers.
A final decision on tuition levels is set for June.
The Regents had hoped to freeze in-state tuition for next year even as state lawmakers sliced up state funding. After lawmakers reduced funds to higher education by $63 million, or 7 percent, the Regents made an offer: stop cutting there and tuition stays flat. Keep cutting, and it’s likely to go up.
The Legislature kept cutting, ultimately imposing an $85 million reduction on higher ed - or 10 percent. In the end, the cut helped lawmakers erase a budget deficit that once stood at more than $1 billion.
But it made talk of freezing tuition that much more unlikely.
Regent Gary Sherrer called the probable tuition hike a “legislatively imposed tuition increase.
“They have forced us to either raise tuition or make cuts on top of cuts,” he said. “We told them, ‘we can hold tuition at this level, but we can’t if you cut more.’ They chose to cut more.”
Regent Jill Docking noted that all other groups receiving money from the state – public K-12 education, social service programs, state agencies – have had to swallow difficult budget cuts, and that the Regents institutions will be no different.
“There’s no way to avoid suffering,” Docking said. “What’s really important is that we make it through these difficult times.”
Regents Chairwoman Donna Shank said it’s unlikely the same level of tuition increase would be instituted for each of the state’s public colleges and universities.
“All our institutions are different,” she said. “They’re all affected differently by the economic situation.”
She said she’s looking for “the absolute minimum” level of tuition increases because she understands the recession is hurting many peoples’ ability to afford higher education.
“People are losing their jobs. Student loans are being affected,” she said. “This year in particular, the economy is affecting them just as it’s affecting our institutions.”
And the bleeding may continue. On Wednesday, the Regents received a briefing by state budget director Duane Goossen, who warned of the possibility of still more cuts should recovery prove elusive.
“We don’t know if we have bottomed out yet,” he said.
