College tuition rates may go even higher

Amid the suspense over K-12 funding, Kansans should be aware of how state leaders’ actions are driving up the price of attending state universities.

Asking students to pay more enables the cash-strapped state to pay less, but at what cost to Kansans’ ability to afford college without heavy loan debt? And to the universities’ ability to supply the Kansas economy with an educated, innovative workforce?

Five of the six state universities have even revised their tuition proposals upward since last month. That’s when Gov. Sam Brownback cut the system in the fiscal 2017 budget by 4 percent rather than the anticipated 3 percent, and also effectively punished the University of Kansas and Kansas State University for their success in attracting research grants.

KU now wants to raise in-state undergraduate tuition 5 percent on the Lawrence campus and 6 percent for freshmen who sign on for the four-year compact (rather than 4 and 5 percent, respectively, as it proposed in May), while KSU seeks a 5.8 percent hike (instead of 5 percent), Emporia State requests 4.9 percent (instead of 3.9 percent), Pittsburg State wants 5.5 percent (up from 5 percent) and Fort Hays State seeks 6 percent (up from 5 percent).

Wichita State University kept its proposed tuition increase at 5 percent. It’s also asking to assess some course-specific fees in the Barton School of Business and to increase some fees for other programs as well as for transportation and technology.

The Kansas Board of Regents will consider the tuition and fee increases at Wednesday’s meeting, as well as WSU’s proposals to allow students in the Kansas City metropolitan statistical area to pay in-state tuition rates at any Kansas regents university and to extend in-state tuition rates at WSU only to students from the Dallas area.

It won’t be surprising if the regents bless the tuition hikes – the 10th in a row for all six universities – as the institutions have few alternatives for offsetting the state cuts.

Brownback and some lawmakers may try to blame the funding cuts on court demands to suitably finance K-12 education. But tax cuts drained the state of revenue to support higher education. And the Legislature has deliberately reduced the public share of higher education costs over the past decade.

The state general fund appropriation for higher education for fiscal 2017 is 8.6 percent less than in fiscal 2008. In WSU’s case, full-time undergrads would pay $3,193 in-state tuition next semester – up from $1,956 in 2007-08.

Where will this cost-shifting end?

This story was originally published June 15, 2016 at 12:07 AM with the headline "College tuition rates may go even higher."