photo by: Peter Hancock

Kansas University Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little testifies Feb. 9, 2016, before the House Appropriations Committee about KU's 50 million Central District development project.

As Kansas University Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little was proposing a 4 percent tuition increase before the Kansas Board of Regents earlier this month, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback was signing a budget cutting KU’s state funding by millions more than the university expected.

The Journal-World sat down with Gray-Little after the governor’s action.

KU has not yet shared details about how cuts will be implemented, but the chancellor answered questions about some of the considerations, as well as the possibility that it will lead to even larger tuition increases.

Brownback signed a budget bill into law May 18 while at the same time ordering $97 million in allotment cuts.

Those cuts average a 4 percent reduction for most state agencies, but the governor accepted a proviso put into the budget by lawmakers that will force KU and Kansas State University to shoulder a larger share.

The action brought the total cut to the KU system to $10.7 million, with $7 million at the Lawrence campus and $3.7 million at KU Medical Center.

Also on May 18, the Regents heard tuition proposals from the leaders of all six state universities. Last year the Legislature imposed a 3.6 percent cap on tuition increases, but that cap was lifted this year enabling KU’s proposed increase of 4 percent.

Under KU’s tuition proposal presented this month, an in-state undergraduate at the Lawrence campus would pay $4,743 per semester — $5,228 including required fees — to attend KU during the 2016-17 academic year. That’s an increase of $182 — or $200 including required fees — over 2015-16.

State general funds make up roughly 21 percent of KU’s total operating budget.

KU’s total operating budget for fiscal year 2016 was $631 million, including $128 million in state general fund appropriations for operations, according to the university’s initial operating budget published last summer. An additional $10 million in state general funds was designated for specific projects.

• How significant are these new budget reductions to KU?

“Because of the level of the reduction, it’s not something where we can take cuts and not notice the difference. We will notice the difference,” Gray-Little said. “That’s real money that’s going to make a difference in what we do and cannot do.”

• How is KU going to accommodate the larger-than-expected budget cuts?

Emphasizing that the cuts announced this month represented a continuation of reductions in support from the state, Gray-Little said: “The reduction that we have just gotten is somewhat larger than we anticipated, and of course it’s disproportionate, so it’s a very unkind cut.”

She said implementation must be guided, at her level, by considering what KU does that’s most important.

“Whenever you have a loss of money, or where you have increases in money, you have to think about what your core principals are and what’s fundamental,” she said. “I’m not going to be able to say we’ll cut this and not that, but I think that is the guidance, how can we be true to the mission?”

• The Board of Regents is scheduled to consider state universities’ tuition proposals at its June meeting. Will KU propose increasing tuition even more in light of the additional budget cuts announced May 18?

When adjusted for inflation, per-student state funding for KU has declined 40 percent over the past 15 years, Gray-Little said.

“It’s a very, very major change in who pays for higher education in the state, with obviously the state paying less and less and students paying more and more,” she said. “We have not made any specific decisions here about changing the tuition increase because of the reductions, but it’s certainly a relevant discussion.”

• Are you worried that tuition increases — either as currently proposed or potentially even higher increases — could deter enrollment, especially for some of the underrepresented groups KU is trying to grow?

It is a concern, and particularly so with low-income students, Gray-Little said.

“Our tuition reflects something of a balance between what we need and what we think our market of students can afford and will be attracted by,” Gray-Little said. “We’re always looking at that with regard to low income students. Of course the more tuition goes up the farther and farther we get away from what they can afford or, to look at it another way, the more resources we have to find for student aid.”

• What will guide KU’s decision on whether to further increase tuition for the upcoming year?

Gray-Little said KU must have enough revenue to ensure it can offer the quality of education that’s expected, but at the same time keep tuition low enough that students will come.

“We are always trying to evaluate the level of tuition with regard to what resources we need to offer the quality that we want, and what effects that tuition level will have on students’ application and enrollment,” she said.

• In another factor that may impact enrollment, KU’s new — and higher — automatic admission standards go into effect this fall. Any early indication yet about whether those are affecting enrollment and acceptance rates?

There has been a four-year notice about the new requirements, Gray-Little said.

In brief, the standardized test score and GPA requirements to be automatically admitted to KU have increased. Applications of students who don’t meet the marks for automatic admission will be reviewed by a committee considering factors such as strength of high school coursework, academic potential, diversity, family circumstances and the student’s ability to benefit from support available at the university.

“To the extent that we know right now, our pool is looking good with regard to the number and diversity of the students,” she said. “It looks like we’re going to be close to, if not at, the level that we have been in recent years, and as the summer goes on we’ll have more definitive information about that.”