• State responses to Biden student loan decision

    State responses to Biden student loan decision0

    Last month, the Biden Administration announced a student loan debt forgiveness plan with a cap of $10,000 increasing to $20,000 if the student is a Pell Grant recipient. Though this was a federal decision, the impact in the states highlights how federal actions reverberate throughout the country. Billions in federal spending in the form of

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  • College remediation rates improving, but still too high

    College remediation rates improving, but still too high0

    There’s good news and bad news regarding the number of recent high school grads who enter Kansas colleges and universities and find themselves having to take a developmental (remediation) course. The good news is that the percentage of those students seems to be ticking downward. The bad news is that still about one-quarter of all

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  • More State Funding Won’t Stop Tuition Hikes

    More State Funding Won’t Stop Tuition Hikes0

    Kansas students are suffering financially from the accelerating cost of college. If policymakers truly seek to provide tuition relief, they should realize state aid has little to zero effect on tuition hikes. The idea that education needs more state funding strongly influences Kansas policy. To that degree, the legislature approved an extra $33 million in

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  • Universities use tuition to pad bank balances

    Universities use tuition to pad bank balances0

    Parents and students having to pay higher tuition and fees at Kansas universities might be surprised to know that $18 million of what they paid last year was used to pad university bank balances.  That’s the collective net increase in General Fee Fund cash reserves reported in response to Open Records requests submitted by Kansas

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  • Media Ignores Facts, Excuses University Tuition Hikes

    Media Ignores Facts, Excuses University Tuition Hikes1

    The annual ritual of universities making sad-faced announcements of tuition increases and blaming them on state funding cuts took place last week. And in keeping with tradition, media abandoned basic journalistic principles and basically functioned as the Regent’s press office. Media didn’t question whether university tuition increases could be partially or fully avoided (they can)

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  • 2016 State Payroll 3% Above 2013 Level

    2016 State Payroll 3% Above 2013 Level0

    The 2016 state payroll totals reflect a 2.4 percent decline from the record set in 2015 but total pay is still 2.9 percent higher than the 2013 level. The Kansas Turnpike Authority reported a 3.4 percent pay increase for 2016 but state universities and other state agencies had small declines.  Compared to 2013 levels, however,

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