Community colleges cite record enrollment, wait lists and unmet business-and-industry training funding

Heather Morgan, executive director of the Kansas Association of Community Colleges, told the House Committee on Higher Education Budget that community colleges are experiencing "unprecedented growth" and that many institutions have reached record enrollments.

Morgan said community and technical colleges together serve more than 100,000 students statewide on a headcount basis and that community colleges perform roughly 70% of the state's technical education. She told lawmakers that 34% of community-college funding comes from local property taxes and only about 16% comes from the state, and she described a set of supplemental and recurring requests not included in House Bill 2007.

Key funding gaps Morgan cited include a $14.3 million request for business-and-industry partnerships and apprenticeships, $5 million for capital outlay, $6.5 million for cybersecurity, and other items that together amount to roughly $53 million to $56 million the two-year sector says is needed to make the FY2026 budget whole. Morgan said the $14.3 million for business-and-industry work would reimburse colleges for customized training that is not otherwise paid through the cost model.

Morgan and college presidents described wait lists in high-demand programs: the sector reported about 1,033 students on wait lists statewide for technical programs, including roughly 374 waiting for CDL training and about 83 waiting for welding programs. She said that community colleges have expanded capacity where possible and that business partners are contributing equipment and other resources in some cases.

Committee members asked about the mechanics of state reimbursement for course delivery and the role of KBOR. Morgan explained that tiered and non-tiered funding is based on multi-year averages and that some appropriations operate as reimbursements for courses already delivered; SB155 (Excel and CTE funding) and tiered lines are paid on a reimbursement and rolling-average basis and, she said, can leave institutions exposed when appropriations do not match delivered enrollments.

Why it matters: Community colleges are a primary source of short-term workforce training and technician education in Kansas. The sector argued that unfulfilled or one-time funding treatment would limit colleges' capacity to reduce wait lists and meet employer demand for trained workers such as nurses, welders and CDL drivers.

No votes occurred. Members asked KBOR and community-college leaders to provide reconciled figures on which items were intended as recurring funding and for a breakdown of industry contributions to apprenticeship and business-and-industry programs.