GOP weakens KS public universities. Faculty job losses, Tuition increases to trigger student decline

[patrice]

Looks as though post-secondary education is only for upper economic ranges in Kansas, but why would they pay higher tuition for schools who have had to cut teaching positions, causing loss of any kind of competitive position in post-secondary education markets, which will cause remaining teachers to leave for other states, taking their grant writing capacities with them, thus exacerbating rising tuitions and thus, also, even further decline in student populations.

http://www.hutchnews.com/Print/edit-kansas-higher-ed-decline

The public university system in Kansas seems to continue to weaken from nicks and cuts by state government, which ever more is focused on making Kansas above all else a tax-cheap place to live and do business.

That’s a shame for public higher education in Kansas. In fact, calling our universities “public” seems almost a misnomer given that state government only picks up only about 20 percent of the tab. (Of course, the Kansas Legislature wants to have 100 percent control.) Students increasingly bear more of the burden in the form of higher tuition, while university endowments scramble to build assets in hopes of trying to keep up with private colleges.

The Kansas House wants to cut the higher education budget by another 4 percent in the next fiscal year budget. The Senate has a 2 percent cut in its budget.

At the University of Kansas, for one, that would force the elimination of at least 38 faculty jobs, KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little said this week. She added that state budget cuts would make it harder for KU to keep its top faculty from being lured away by other universities that offer higher salaries, turning KU into a “farm team” for other institutions.