Tuition increases approved

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky’s community colleges may have thousands fewer available slots next year, after a state panel on Friday rejected a proposed double-digit tuition increase for them, the system’s president said.

As many as 6,000 fewer students may find themselves without access to the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, President Michael McCall said.

Reductions in state funding, and a smaller than requested tuition hike are to blame, McCall said.

“It’s counterintuitive,” McCall said of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education’s decision. “What they have chosen to do today is affordability in the name of accessibility. They have sacrificed accessibility for affordability.”

Kentucky’s public universities have been grappling with increasing costs and decreasing state funds. The state is facing a $900 million revenue shortfall over the next two fiscal years beginning July 1.

State lawmakers last month approved a two-year $19 billion state spending plan that included an overall 3 percent cut in state funding to Kentucky’s public universities. The schools responded with proposed tuition hikes ranging from about 6 percent to about 13 percent.

The higher education council on Friday approved tuition increases ranging from about 6 percent to nearly 10 percent.