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FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — More students have graduated from Kentucky's public colleges and universities, but not as many as there could have been.
A new report from the Council on Postsecondary Education shows state colleges and universities conferred more than 62,400 degrees and certificates in the 2012-13 school year, a 13 percent increase from four years ago. But more than 107,500 students who qualified for financial aid that year were denied because the state did not have enough money to give it to them - a 57 percent increase from four years ago.
The annual accountability report comes as state lawmakers are debating the future of education funding in a state that is grappling with budget shortfalls. The state ended the 2013-14 fiscal year with a $90 million shortfall, and state officials have predicted a $135 million shortfall next year if tax collections do not improve.
Earlier this year, lawmakers approved a budget that diverted about $80 million from college financial aid programs to other government purposes.
"We're we are seeing significant improvements in the number of students that are completing, which is very good news," council President Robert King said. "But for many students who do not complete, money becomes the problem."
The report showed fewer Kentucky high school graduates are going to college in state, with 55.2 percent of graduates enrolling in any Kentucky college, down from 56.7 percent in 2011. The state goal for 2014 was 72 percent. And while more students are graduating overall, fewer low-income students are graduating with associate's degrees. And fewer underprepared students, as defined by ACT scores coming out of high school, are graduating with bachelor's degrees.
"Not to say all of them drop out for financial reasons, but we know finances play a significant role in that issue," King said.
State Sen. Stan Humphries, R-Cadiz and chairman of the higher education budget subcommittee, noted that lawmakers did increase the amount of money for the Kentucky Education Excellence Scholarship. Those scholarships are based on a student's grade point average, so the better they do at school the more money they can get for college tuition.
But Humphries said lawmakers need to be more watchful of state money for financial aid in the future.
"When you don't have that money available, it makes some students decision for them," he said. "I do agree we need to do watch how much money is separated off and divided off to go to general fund purposes."
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