Several Higher Education Bills Approved by House

February 22, 2009

A variety of Higher Education bills were approved on the House floor this week and will now advance to the Senate for their consideration.

One such bill will grant the Kansas Board of Regents the ability to rework the parameters of admissions at Regent universities.  House Bill 2197, which passed on final action vote on Friday, will allow the Board of Regents to establish individual standards at different universities to better reflect each institution’s educational mission.  Additionally, House Bill 2197 amends current qualified admissions standards.  Under the bill, students graduating from non-accredited, private, or home schools may be admitted to a state university with an ACT score of 21 points or more.  Previously these students were allowed to attend public universities but they fell into a 10% exclusion category.  The Board of Regents will be required to establish statewide standards for exemptions to this rule and must report the number of exemptions annually to the legislature.

Also this week the House passed House Bill 2007, which allows the Board of Regents to administer certain scholarships and fellowships and also to waive certain fees and tuition to undergraduate students.  The current statute provides only that graduate students may be awarded fellowships and makes no mention of tuition waivers and fees.  This bill, approved 109-16, will allow our state institutions to be more competitive in the region and better enables the Board of Regents to make sound business decisions on behalf of Kansas universities.  It will be an extremely helpful tool for advancing the state’s educational mission, promoting workforce development, increasing enrollment, and encouraging diversity on state campuses.

House Bill 2004, if approved by the Senate, will change some of our Board of Regents employee retirement wording in order to align with the new federal tax code.  Essentially, the bill prohibits a participant in the retirement plan at the State Board of Regents from continuing to opt into the BOR retirement plan when taking a leave of absence from their educational institution to work in the executive branch of Kansas government.

Finally, House Bill 2003, approved by the House 125-0, was passed in an effort to update language in postsecondary technical education statute.  The bill amends references to institutions, updating terminology from “vocational” to “career and technical,” codifies provisions included in some Appropriations bills provisos, and also changed some technical writing to align Kansas with national standards.  Although this bill was deemed essentially as a “clean up” bill, it symbolizes the shift of importance that technical education critically needs.  This economy will turn eventually, and when it does our state and nation will need LPNs, RN’s, welders, airplane machinists, electrical grid workers and many other highly skilled workers that technical education institutions can prepare for 21st century jobs. 

Website by
Kring Associates

Paid for by Cindy Neighbor for State Representative - Kathleen Jenkins, Treasurer