skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Kentucky College Students Getting Hit With a Double Whammy

play audio
Play

Monday, August 24, 2015   

OWENSBORO, Ky. - As students return to Kentucky's 24 public colleges and universities to begin the fall semester, the price they are paying continues to escalate, while lawmakers continue to slash state support.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Kentucky is among the five states with the highest increase in the average cost of tuition since last year. The nearly four percent jump averages $344 a student.

Lacey Parham, Owensboro Community and Technical College sophomore and student government president, says tuition has become a major factor in students' plans.

"Tuition holds people back from being able to go to the college they want to go to," says Parham. "Sometimes that can be in the means of having to wait another year or two to save money. Sometimes that can be the means of having to go a completely different route with their education."

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Kentucky lawmakers made the largest funding cut per student, in the nation this year at $179 a student.

Kentucky, Oklahoma and West Virginia are the only states that have cut funding to higher education over each of the last two years. Robert King, president of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, says general fund cuts have come each year since 2008 totaling $900 million.

"What we're really doing is undermining the capacity of the state to have a highly-skilled, highly-educated workforce," he says. "Without that it is very difficult to support economic growth in the future."

King says the state's current general fund allocation to the higher education system is $173 million less than what it was when the recession hit in 2008. He notes that from 2000 to 2009, Kentucky made the most progress in the nation in the number of degree holders, but has now slipped "well down in the pack."

"Our legislators know there is a relationship between state funding and tuition," he says. "I think the performance indicators really are the, kind of the canary in the coal mines. And, look these cuts are starting to have an impact."

The funding report shows lawmakers have reduced state support nearly 28 percent from its pre-reccesion level, while tuition has increased 28 percent. A double whammy on students, which Parham, says puts the college in a no-win situation.

"Students and others are often quick to blame the college," says Parham. "I understand that, but really it's often beyond their control."


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021