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The governor’s July 27 announcement that the state has a $214 million budget surplus was met by students with little interest and less enthusiasm. As inescapable as the laws of physics, Kentucky college attendees are guaranteed to receive the smallest piece of the cake every time the state’s goodies are handed out. When money is being distributed, why should a university student even waste her time looking up, just to see that none of it landed nearby?
Recent state budgets have been as lean as the cows in Joseph’s dreams, and consequently, Kentucky colleges have tightened their belts, with the promise of better years to come. U of L has weathered four consecutive annual budget cuts, and has survived in part through steady tuition increases. Consequently, the price of an undergraduate degree has increased by approximately a third for this year’s seniors since they matriculated as freshmen.
Now, the much-heralded brighter future has arrived. Amidst historic federal deficits, Kentucky has managed to shore up a considerable surplus. Not surprisingly, however, after so many fast-talking guarantees, the promised land holds little milk and honey for college students. Five state programs, ranging from Budget Reserve Funding to Medicaid contributions, are being considered to receive some of the surplus funds, but higher education is nowhere on the list.
While U of L flounders, embarassingly underfunded compared to its benchmark institutions, the state government withholds the funding our university deserves, even when they have the money to give. The governor’s office might claim that Kentucky college budgets have been restored to their earlier levels, but such a statement is misleading. Though the permanent cuts have since been accounted for, the temporary cuts made when times were tough still haunt university finances.
All the while, students suffer. The major draw of an education at a Kentucky university for many in-state students, when compared with institutions in other states, is its relative affordability. Tuition continues to rise – at the same time the interest rates of Stafford Loans nearly double – and still the state government has little interest in providing aid to college students.
Are politicians unaware of our concerns? No, they just don’t care – at least not enough to ameliorate the situation. As self-satisfying as a protest march might be, the entire campus could hold a class meeting of GEN 101 on the capitol lawn and the average Ketucky politican wouldn’t notice, for one simple reason: we don’t vote. Until college students can address the state government in election-day turnout, the one language that it understands, we will remain the loudmouthed kids, fighting for a seat at the grown-up table.
