Senate proposed budget includes cuts to financial aid, postsecondary institutions

| Post by Perry Papka |

Under the budget bill passed by the Senate this week, state funding for postsecondary education will be cut over the next two years, with total decreases of 2% for financial aid resources and 3% for institutional funding. The proposal would continue the pattern of state disinvestment in Kentucky’s postsecondary institutions that has persisted since 2008, and since that time would total $224 million or 26%: a disinvestment whose costs are ultimately born by students and families.

Financial Aid
The proposed Senate budget would decrease state financial aid $12.1 million in FY 2019 and add back $8.2 million in FY 2020. Only 95% of net lottery revenue would go to financial aid, meaning $13.4 million would be shifted to other areas of government. Needs-based CAP and KTG would receive 45% of the net lottery proceeds, as compared to the 55% required by statute - but substantially more in dollars than the previous budget, approximately $30 million more over the two years.

Key steps include:

• $10.6 million more for College Access Program (CAP) needs-based aid in FY 2019, with another $4.2 million added in FY 2020
• $5.1 million more for Kentucky Tuition Grant (KTG) needs-based aid in FY 2019, with another $1.8 million added in FY 2020
• $1.6 million more for Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarships (KEES) merit-based funding increased in FY 2019, with another $2.3 million added in FY 2020
• Unchanged funding for National Guard Tuition Assistance, remaining at $7.4 million annually.
• $5 million less for Dual Credit scholarships in each year
• $13.4 million less for Work Ready scholarships in each year
• No funding for two previous lottery-funded programs: the Teacher Scholarship Program and Coal County College Completion Scholarships
• No funding for four non-lottery programs: Early Childhood, Work Study, Pharmacy, and Osteopathic Medicine

Institutional Funding
The proposed Senate budget would decrease overall state funding to public postsecondary institutions by $26.9 million in FY 2019 with no additional funding added in FY 2020. In FY 2019 $23.6 million and in FY 2020 $31.2 million would be allocated among institutions as performance-based funding based on their success at meeting goals. Both years would be less than the $42.9 million allocated to performance-based funding in FY 2018.


Compared to the FY 2018 budget, the Senate plan for FY 2019 would provide:

• $6.2 million less for University of Kentucky 
• $4.8 million less for KCTCS 
• $1.6 million less for University of Louisville
• $1.1 million less for Eastern 
• $1.0 million less for Morehead 
• $0.5 million less for Kentucky State
• $1.4 million more for Murray 
• $1.5 million more for Western 
• $4.7 million more for Northern 

Want Further Detail?
We’ve created a PrichBlog summary with one page to show financial aid changes and a second to show the institutional budgets. You can download that here, or view the complete budget bill as approved by the Senate here.