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UofL and UK officials outline budget pressures including insurance, hospital costs and endowment limits
Summary
Officials from the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky told the Budget Review Subcommittee on Education that UofL expects a 19% increase in health insurance costs, UofL set a 4% endowment-spending limit for FY2027, and UK said its hospital system represents roughly 60% of the university’s budget.
University officials from the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky appeared before the Budget Review Subcommittee on Education on June 3 to describe budgetary pressures and institutional responses.
At the hearing, Rick Graycarek, executive vice president for finance and administration and chief financial officer at UofL, said the university enrolls about 25,000 students with roughly 6,000 living on campus or affiliated properties. He told the subcommittee that endowment spending limits are typically 5% or less nationally and that the UofL Foundation set a 4% limit for fiscal year 2027. Graycarek also said UofL’s health insurance costs are expected to increase by 19% the following year.
Dr. Kathryn Cardarelli, executive vice president and university provost at UofL, said the university added a regulatory attorney to ensure compliance with 2025 RS HB 4. Representatives of the University of Kentucky — Angie Martin, vice president for financial planning and chief budget officer, and Rob Edwards, vice president and chief strategy and government affairs officer — described UK’s financial structure, saying the UK hospital system consumes roughly 60% of the total UK budget and that university and hospital funds are accounted separately.
Committee members questioned presenters about personnel costs, fund accounting, and how statutory and regulatory changes affect compliance and spending. The testimony was informational; the subcommittee took no formal votes and adjourned at 12:26 PM ET.
