President Todd and the Board of Trustees are now charged with the task of aligning UK’s tuition rates after the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education and a group of collaborators capped the 2009-10 tuition increase at 5 percent in the midst of more state budget cuts. Tuition will be $8,122, up from this school year’s $7,736.  This is welcome news to students, as tuition has consistently increased an average of 10 percent since most current students have been enrolled at UK. But the tuition cap and budgetary crisis has a wider reaching effect than just tuition.

All faculty and staff are said to be retained; however, faculty will not receive a raise as a result of the 2 percent cut in state budget appropriations. With regard to UK’s Top 20 Business Plan and renovations to the hospital, the current budget deficit will continue to eat into the plans of the university. With less money to hire faculty, the university has to reduce incoming student intake to keep the student/faculty ratio in check. Meanwhile, the much-needed renovations to the UK hospital may be put on hold due to the budget and poor economy.

Over all, this is a welcome move as students will receive a little bit of a break, faculty and staff will keep jobs and UK will seemingly operate without much negative change. But to achieve the “ambitious” plans that have been set for the university, we have to figure out ways to keep from having setbacks. For example, keeping tuition low is always a benefit for students, but on the other hand, sacrificing the ability to grow and expand upon the foundation that is already laid, denigrates the value of our officials who try to guide our university to prominence.

The plan is a good idea to bring UK up to par with the most prestigious universities in the nation, but there has to be proper support and development within the state to make this plan feasible. The national stimulus plan will help alleviate some of the trouble, possibly allocating $533 million for education; however the relief would only be a one-time courtesy, and the state and university would have to find ways to consistently ramp up funding for education.

It is encouraging that the council, campus presidents, legislative leaders and Student Government president’s collaborated to come up with a plan that attempts to minimize the costs for students and preserve the employment of valuable faculty and staff. Maybe this is a sign of real change. Too often higher education in Kentucky takes a backseat to various other initiatives, and it is a small glimmer of hope that education may start to hold a higher priority when it comes to the happenings of the state.