Regional universities press lawmakers for sustained operations and capital support amid enrollment gains

Three regional universities appeared before the Committee on Higher Education Budget to explain revised FY26 estimates, reappropriations and FY27 requests, and to describe how state funding supports workforce and capital projects across Kansas.

Fort Hays State President Tisa Mason highlighted rural workforce development, nursing and tele‑mental‑health training, and an enterprise approach to affiliated technical colleges. Mason said Fort Hays now supplies a significant share of the rural nurse pipeline and reported campus energy savings from wind power ("our investment in wind power now supplies 56% of our campus electricity"). The campus asked the committee to retain professional and continuing education funding and indicated a potential $3.6 million ask to scale workforce initiatives if funding becomes available.

Pittsburg State President Thomas Newsome described campus capital projects that leverage state investment into larger local economic impact. He and CFO Douglas Ball detailed the Gorilla Rising downtown redevelopment, a prove‑out manufacturing facility, utility tunnel replacements and a track complex. Pitt State told the committee it used a $12.5 million commerce challenge grant to leverage substantially more private and local investment on a mixed‑use downtown project that is projected to generate recurring local revenue.

Emporia State Interim President Taylor Crowley described significant internal reforms: program review that eliminated about 30 low‑value concentrations, increased concurrent (jump‑start) credit participation, and improved financial controls. Crowley said those actions helped reverse recent enrollment declines; Emporia reported a 6% enrollment increase the prior fall. The CFO noted the university did not spend all previously allocated funds (the committee shortened some reappropriations), and that some FY27 capital projects are on the five‑year plan pending funding availability.

Across the presentations Dayton Lamonyan explained how transfers from the Board of Regents—regional stabilization funding, Educational Building Fund transfers and the Kansas Campus Restoration Act—flow into universities’ revised estimates; several members asked for clearer breakdowns of the SGF vs. fee‑fund components and student FTE/credit‑hour trends.

Next steps: committee members requested enrollment and credit‑hour trend overlays, explanations of how regional stabilization transfers were reflected across KBOR and campuses, and verification of FTE and staffing tables before work sessions on each university's budget.