Gov. Matt Bevin’s budget proposal is out, and it’s time to process the resulting cuts to education. While K-12 education was spared, post-secondary education took a hit.

The 2017 state appropriations for public colleges and universities were cut nearly across the board by 9 percent. Northern Kentucky University  and Western Kentucky University were the only ones spared, with WKU taking just a 5.5 percent hit for 2017 and NKU getting a 2 percent increase.

State appropriations are integral to the funding of Kentucky universities. UK President Eli Capilouto sent an email Wednesday describing the cuts as “significant challenges to our university.”

UK professor of political science Donald Gross said UK will likely avoid laying off staff and faculty. The university is more likely to save money by hiring fewer employees, and by not replacing staff and faculty who retire or quit.

To make up for lost state funding, UK has previously increased tuition. State appropriations dropped from $337 million in the 2007-08 fiscal year to $279 million in 2014-15.

Tuition rates followed suit, increasing from about $3,500 in 2007-08 to $5,390 in 2015-16 for in-state students. Out-of-state students pay about $12,000 per semester in 2015-16, about $4,600 more than they paid in 2007-08.

“There’s only really one other good source of money you can use, and that’s tuition increases,” Gross said. “(It) effectively becomes a tax on students and the people who are paying for it.”

UK made up for lost state appropriations since 2007, though. State appropriations dropped by $57 million from the 2007-08 fiscal year to 2014-15, but tuition revenue increased by about $178 million over the same time period.

General funds for 2018 are scheduled for the same cuts, but the exact allotment is still up in the air. The state will allocate one third of the general funds for 2018 based on progress toward “performance indicators” and “time-period goals.”

As it stands, public universities, except NKU and WKU, could lose 40 percent of current general funds by 2018 and will fight for the remaining outcome-based allocated money.

Kentucky State University in Frankfort will likely suffer the most under the proposed budget. Bevin’s recommendations met just 72 percent of the amount requested by the Kentucky Council for Postsecondary Education, as compared to 85 percent or more for each of the other universities.

This is revealed in the recommended cuts to research. While every other state university was recommended their requested amount or no cut for 2017, the budget recommended cutting Kentucky State’s research funds by 4.2 percent.

The proposal may not go through with exactly these numbers, but as it stands, higher education in Kentucky will face a host of new challenges.