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Community and technical colleges warn proposed deletions to operating grants and apprenticeships would cut workforce capacity
Summary
Representatives of Kansas community and technical colleges told the committee that recent budget deletions for technical college operating grants, apprenticeship and student-success funding could force cuts to high‑cost programs and slow industry‑driven training just as employers report critical shortages.
Heather Morgan, executive director of the Kansas Association of Community Colleges, told the Higher Education Subcommittee that community colleges are seeing enrollment gains and are the state’s primary providers of technical education and workforce training. Morgan asked the committee to maintain flat funding for FY27 priorities including $14.3 million for business and industry partnerships, $10.5 million for student success, and $12.4 million for capital outlay.
Dr. Sheree (WSU Tech) urged restoration of the technical college operating grant. She said the operating grant enabled rapid expansion of capacity and equipment in high‑cost programs (aviation, advanced manufacturing, IT/cybersecurity) and that eliminating the grant would “force to reduce capacity in high demand programs, delay or cancel employer requested expansions, and increase class sizes in lab‑based programs.” Technical colleges, she noted, do not benefit from local property‑tax bases the way community colleges do, so they rely more directly on state operating support.
Legislative Research and KBOR staff confirmed the special budget committee removed one‑time carryovers and that proposals for the technical college operating grant and some two‑year college apprenticeships were not included in the agency request. Dr. Blake Flanders (Kansas Board of Regents) emphasized the system’s expectation that the legislature consider student‑success and tiered/non‑tiered funding as part of a unified request but acknowledged fiscal constraints in the current cycle.
“Promises made, promises kept,” WSU Tech's testimony said of the operating grant’s initial impacts; technical college leaders asked the panel to restore $10.5 million to protect the pipeline for employers such as Boeing and Textron Aviation. Lawmakers asked for follow‑up on the fiscal impacts and the expected outcomes if the funding is not restored. The committee did not take a formal vote during this hearing.
