To the editor:

The Journal-World’s March 6 editorial (“You study, you pay”) was very timely, in that the Kansas Board of Regents has asked the state universities to develop five-year plans for tuition. Kansas University will submit such a plan in April for final action by the board in May.

Under our plan, KU likely will increase resident undergraduate tuition substantially over five years, something your editorial suggests we should have done some time ago. In the past, however, the rules were different. The Legislature could easily offset tuition increases by reducing the state appropriation for public higher education. The end result for KU was the same, but our students had to pay more.

The rules have now changed. Last year, the Legislature approved a new budgetary concept tuition ownership and block grant funding. It gives regents universities greater flexibility in setting tuition. In the future, tuition increases can actually enhance the student experience, not just replace tax dollars in our budget.

Nonetheless, the state has an obligation to adequately fund public higher education. The reality is that, adjusted for inflation, state support per student at KU has declined dramatically since 1985: from $6,469 then to $5,605 now. It’s headed toward $5,177 next year if the budget cuts now being considered by the Legislature are enacted.

KU has been an excellent educational value for a long time, and that won’t change. But for us to succeed, we need the Kansas Legislature to hold up its part of the partnership. Under the new rules, and especially in the absence of new state dollars, a well-thought-out plan for phased-in tuition increases is the only course remaining if we hope to keep the high quality of education for which KU is known. Affordable access is also important to us, and our plan will include a significant amount of financial aid to hold harmless the neediest of our students.

David E. Shulenburger,

KU executive vice chancellor and provost