Introduction
Higher education costs and student loan debt continue to increase, while more and more students
take greater than four years to graduate from college. Kentucky students who pay in-state tuition at
our public universities often leave the state after graduation because of the lack of job opportunities
in Kentucky.
In order to bring good paying jobs to Kentucky, we must have a well-educated workforce to meet
the demands of those jobs. We have a post-secondary education system in Kentucky and across the
nation that is failing to meet the needs of our students, our employers, and our economy.
The current system encourages students to take out tens of thousands of dollars in student loans to
obtain degrees for jobs that will not pay an adequate wage to make the student loan payments. We
are setting our students up for failure right out of the gate, and that is morally wrong.
We have identified areas where we can make higher education more affordable, increase retention of
our students upon graduation, and promote an employer-based education system for our community
and technical colleges. The Comer-McDaniel Administration pledges to do more with less across all
state government and that is exactly what we are proposing in this education platform.
The following is our position and plan for each area of focus. As with our healthcare plan, this
document will be dynamic and fluid, being adjusted as we proceed through the campaign and in
the early months of our administration. Our changes will be based on continued discovery of facts,
challenges, and opportunities, while listening to the public we serve.
<1> 20-15 Plan for Higher Education
H i g h e r E d u c at i o n G r a d u at i o n S tat is t i c s
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6,700 students graduate annually from our flagship universities (UK & UofL)
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9,800 students graduate annually from Kentucky’s regional universities
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27% of flagship graduates actually graduate in 4 years
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22% of regional graduates actually graduate in 4 years
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The current 6-year graduation rate from flagship universities is 57% of the 11,847 students
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The current 6-year graduation rate from regional universities is 40% of the 24,537 students
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The current 3-year graduation rate for a 2-year associate degree is 13%
•
Approximately 8,100 students graduate from the KCTCS annually
H i g h e r E d u c at i o n C o s t S tat is t i c s
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Kentucky flagship university tuition and fees average $10,000 per year
•
Kentucky regional university tuition and fees average $7,600 per year
•
KCTCS tuition and fees average $4,530 per year
20-15 Plan for Higher Education <2>
<3> 20-15 Plan for Higher Education
The Comer-McDaniel
2 0 – 1 5 P l a n f o r H i g h e r E d u c at i o n
Making College More Affordable
The Comer-McDaniel Administration will offer Kentucky students a 4-year bachelor’s degree from one of
our two flagship universities for a total tuition cost of $20,000 to the student. We are proposing to offer
Kentucky students a 4-year bachelor’s degree from a Kentucky regional university for a total tuition cost
of $15,000 to the student.
Students who accept a job in Kentucky and live in Kentucky will be reimbursed for tuition over those
amounts through annual tax credits on their Kentucky tax returns after graduation. Tax credits will total
up to $20,000 for graduates from flagship universities and up to $15,000 for graduates from regional
universities. Students must graduate in 4 years to be eligible for these tax credits. The Comer-McDaniel
20-15 Plan for Higher Education is budget neutral.
Retaining Kentucky Students
By improving the business climate in Kentucky, businesses will want to locate here but only if we can
provide them with a well-educated, well-prepared workforce. We want to incentivize our graduates to
stay here in Kentucky, to lay a solid foundation for a competitive business climate. Therefore, students
will only be eligible for these tax credits if they are Kentucky taxpayers after graduation.
20-15 Plan for Higher Education <4>
Outcomes-Based Funding
Historically, Kentucky universities and most universities across the nation receive state funding based
on how many students they have enrolled in their respective schools. So in essence, we reward
schools for attracting students, but we ignore how those students are developed while in school. This
is fundamentally wrong for the students and for the taxpayers. The Comer-McDaniel Administration will
push for an outcomes-based funding model that rewards Kentucky universities on quality, not quantity.
Outcomes-based funding should include 4-year universities, as well as community and technical colleges.
Indiana, Tennessee, Ohio and Missouri have already moved to some form of an outcomes-based funding
model, and it is time for Kentucky to move into the 21st century on education funding.
Increasing Skilled Trades, Manufacturing Jobs, and Training Programs
There is a high demand for good paying technical jobs nationwide. As many baby boomers continue to
retire, more opportunities will be available to the next generation of technical professionals. We are on the
verge of seeing many young people choose vocational and technical opportunities over 4-year degrees
because of earning potential and the growing awareness of the problems caused by student debt.
We understand that vocational and technical jobs can give Kentucky a competitive advantage. That
is why we will make it a top priority to not only attract technical jobs, but to develop a world-class
workforce that will be the envy of every state and a huge attraction to every business looking to locate
to Kentucky.
Therefore, under the Comer-McDaniel Administration, any Kentucky student that earns a two year
associates degree or certificate from the Kentucky Community and Technical College System within 3
years of starting and does so within 8 years of graduating from high school, will be allowed to claim the
entire cost of tuition and fees as a tax credit after graduation.
This initiative will create a larger population of higher-dollar wage earners earlier in their careers and
create a larger revenue base for Kentucky. The KCTCS will also be directed to cut, through attrition, the
amount of administrative staff costs by 10%, thereby saving the Commonwealth $13 million annually.
Increasing the Number of Technical Graduates By 10%
It is not enough to say that we want to increase the number of skilled technical graduates. We must
create an employer-based education system where our vocational and technical colleges are responsive
to the needs of Kentucky’s job market and employers.
We will implement a $2,000 tax credit per student for employers who employ graduates of the KCTCS
system, incentivizing employers to work closely with the KCTCS to develop specific training programs
that meet the employer’s needs. This collaboration between employers and our technical colleges will
also promote on-the-job training. This tax credit will be paid by the employer to the student/employee
after he or she has been employed for at least 24 months and has lived in Kentucky during that time.
In Preparation for Higher Education (Pre-K through 12)
It is crucial that all children in Kentucky have access to a world-class education. That includes making
sure we are providing teachers with the proper tools to educate our children and rewarding excellence in
the classroom. We must improve transparency in our public school systems and focus on sending more
money to our classrooms and less money to administrative bureaucracies.
Curriculum control is better placed at the local level and we should be giving teachers the freedom to
teach rather than holding them back with nationalized standards dictated from Washington, DC.
<5> 20-15 Plan for Higher Education
School Choice
Kentucky is behind the curve when it comes to school choice. School choice is a vital tool in promoting
competition among schools and improving the overall quality of education for all Kentuckians. The
Comer-McDaniel Administration will call for legislation that promotes school choice. We support charter
schools, but we also acknowledge that charter schools are not a one-size-fits-all approach to school
choice. Therefore, we will promote school voucher programs and tuition assistance tax credits that give
underprivileged students in poor performing school districts the opportunity of a world-class education.
Pre-K
The Comer-McDaniel Administration will develop a more sophisticated student tracking system to ensure
that children are not “double counted” when they transfer schools. This will reduce the double-counting
problem of our current system and save Kentucky millions of dollars annually. The savings from this
change will then be invested in early childhood reading and math programs for struggling students.
STEM
The Comer-McDaniel Administration is committed to improving science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics education. From savings gained through KCTCS attrition we will reward top-performing
STEM teachers in high school and middle school with performance bonuses based on student
assessment results. Better performance in these areas will better prepare students for post-secondary
education and the workforce.
References
Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education Comprehensive Database
Legislative Research Commission Report “Cost Drivers and Funding Sources in Higher Education
Program Review, Oversight, & Investigations”
Northern Kentucky University Statistics on Higher Education
20-15 Plan for Higher Education <6>
Paid for by Comer for Governor