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Dual‑credit expansion and SB155 cited as drivers of technical‑college enrollment growth
Summary
Kansas Board of Regents and technical college leaders told a budget committee that Excel/CTE dual‑credit expansion and partnerships with employers are driving large gains in technical‑college enrollments, and that high‑school students receiving college credit are counted in enrollment metrics.
Doctor Flanders of the Kansas Board of Regents and Sherry Utash of WSU Tech told the Committee on Higher Education Budget that technical colleges have seen notable enrollment gains driven in part by dual‑credit expansion to high‑school students.
Flanders said the state used to deliver roughly 3,000–3,500 high‑school students for technical courses annually and now delivers more than 15,000 through Excel and CTE programs. “We used to deliver college technical courses to high school... And now we're doing over 15,000,” he told the committee, and he emphasized that those dual‑credit hours are included in credit‑based enrollment totals.
Representative Haskins and others asked whether the incentives in Senate Bill 155 shifted students away from community colleges into technical programs. Flanders responded that dual‑credit growth does not remove enrollments from counts and that, in many cases, the students would not otherwise have been enrolled in college credit courses at all. He said the policy tradeoffs include increased college credit for high‑school students and potential demographic and preparedness issues affecting community college enrollments.
Utash described how WSU Tech expanded programs and employer partnerships to meet demand, citing industry collaboration (Spirit Aerosystems, Textron Aviation) and Future Ready Centers with local school districts. She said WSU Tech grew from about 700 students to more than 10,000 by aligning programs with employer needs and expanding dual‑credit and applied learning opportunities.
Committee members asked KBOR and the colleges to provide additional data on out‑of‑district campus counts and capital‑outlay treatment for students who attend classes on college facilities versus in their high schools. KBOR agreed to return with data and further testimony.
