It’s great that engineering students at three state universities are in high demand. It’s also great that the leaders of engineering schools at Kansas University, Kansas State University and Wichita State University want to build on that success.

However, it’s also understandable that a plan to raise the state’s investment in those three school by $15 million a year would give state legislators pause.

The engineering deans and leaders of Kansas industries recently joined forces to make their case to Kansas lawmakers. Their goal is to obtain an additional $6 million in state funding next year and $15 million the year after that. The $15 million would then become part of the schools’ ongoing budgets.

It’s impressive that Kansas businesses like Cessna Aircraft, Hawker Beechcraft, Garmin and HNTB participated in this effort, telling lawmakers that more engineers are needed to replace retiring baby boomers and meet rising research and production demands. Meeting those demands certainly is a worthy goal for the state, but how that gets done is another question.

Legislators were right to ask what part businesses are willing to play in financing the education of the engineers they apparently need so desperately, and it’s true that private donors have stepped up to help this effort. KU has a new engineering building financed through private donations, and about a third of KU engineering students receive private scholarship money.

Educating engineers to fuel Kansas business seems like a good investment, but there are a couple of hitches. First, finding an additional $15 million, or even $6 million, will be no small feat in next year’s budget. Universities have been asked to submit budgets that are smaller, not larger, than this year.

There also is concern about how to make sure it’s Kansas businesses that benefit from those new engineers educated by increased state funding. Unfortunately, Kansas has a rich tradition as a great place to be from. What percentage of graduates from Kansas engineering schools currently work in Kansas?

To make sure the state benefits from its investment, perhaps it should consider a program for engineering students that mirrors the Kansas medical school loan program, which forgives student loans for doctors who work in underserved areas of the state.

Over the next five years, the engineering schools want to raise their number of graduates by more than 50 percent from 875 a year to 1,365. It’s an ambitious plan that’s worthy of consideration, but given the state’s current financial situation, some compromises may be required.