LEXINGTON, KY--An advocacy group that has called for moratorium on college tuition increases criticized today's approval by the Council for Postsecondary Education (CPE) of tuition increases for state universities and called for State Auditor to audit the group.
"This is a clear sign that the body that is supposed to be monitoring our public institutions of higher education is not serious about college affordability," said Martin Cothran, spokesperson for The Family Foundation of Kentucky. "This is a regressive tax on Kentucky families that is eroding the educational and economic vitality of our state."
Cothran also called on State Auditor Crit Luallen to audit the Council on Postsecondary Education. "The State Auditor just released an audit of the commission that oversees for-profit colleges in the state. That commission doesn't even get any state money. Where is the audit of the CPE, which does get state money and which oversees public colleges and universities?" Cothran asked.
Luallen recently released an audit of the Kentucky State Board for Proprietary Education, callings its oversight of for-profit colleges "inadequate" and bemoaning the fact that the board had not been audited in 10 years. "Part of the mission of the CPE is to keep college affordable and they are not doing it. Where are the investigations?"
Cothran said his group will continue to call attention to the problem of eroding college affordability and will be talking with state lawmakers leading up the next session of the General Assembly.
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2 comments:
So, Martin, once again I ask - what would be an affordable price for an education at the University of Kentucky? Dollar amounts, please, not some pseudo-algebraic evasion.
No answer, no surprise. Numbers are not Martin's good friends.
Some round numbers:
Tuition, room and board for a year @ UK - $15,000
Tuition, room and board at a so-called SLA college ("market rate" for a college education) - $45,000
# of undergrads @ UK - 20,000
Amount that would have to be provided by KY taxpayers to subsidize the difference (to bring the cost of an education closer to "affordable", whatever the the FF thinks this is) - $600 million
Amount taxpayers actually provide - $300 million
Additional amount of state support needed to return the relative impact to 10% of median income - $140 million
Read it twice, if you must. For it sure seems as if TFF is calling for a significant tax increase to bring the cost of an education at UK into some sort of "affordable" range (although Martin still isn't willing to tell us what he thinks is affordable).
This blog sure is full of surprises.
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