By Sophie McEwen
News Editor, The Northerner
Northern Kentucky University’s administration is concerned about the potential impact of substantial budget cuts passed by the Kentucky House, soon to be taken up by the Senate.
Under this proposal, millions could be stripped from NKU’s operating budget.
President Cady Short-Thompson urged all those with a connection to NKU to reach out to their legislators against this funding reduction, which includes cuts to higher education over the next two years.
According to the president’s office, this would constitute cuts to the NKU operating budget of about 6% in the first year and 10% in the second year.
In a Tuesday email, Short-Thompson estimated the cost of this to be more than 8.5 million dollars lost.
In a similar statement, the University of Kentucky’s President, Eli Capilouto, expressed concern about the impact of a cut of any kind, even a two-year one. The proposed budgets would cut about 4% of the UK budget in the first year and another 3% the next year. Capilouto notes such reductions could directly impact services that support UK’s students.
Overall, the budget proposal would see Kentucky public colleges and universities facing $42 million dollars in cuts in fiscal year 2026-27 and about $73.5 million in fiscal year 2027-28, according to Aaron Thompson, president of the Council on Postsecondary Education.
In her message, Short-Thompson urged the NKU community and those invested in Kentucky higher education to contact their legislators now, as the budget process is still underway.
The current expectation is for the state Senate to release its version of the proposed budget in the next few weeks, although an exact date has not been released. Then, a final discussion will occur between both legislative bodies to prepare the finalized budget.
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