CATLETTSBURG —
Boyd County has become the latest county to come out against a proposal to make the University of Pikeville a part of the state public university system.
Members of the fiscal court voted at a meeting to publicly oppose the move to integrate the University of Pikeville into the public higher education system.
The proposal to make the University of Pikeville a public university came from University President Paul Patton, a former Kentucky governor. According to the bill, the university would be funded by coal severance money. Patton’s proposal would use about $13 million in coal severance money to fund the university, according to an AP report.
Proponents of the bill say making the University of Pikeville public would give more young people in eastern Kentucky a chance to pursue an affordable college education and would have a positive impact in the region as a whole and on Pikeville in particular.
Commissioner Carl Tolliver said members of the fiscal court are concerned about the impact University of Pikeville becoming a state university would have on Boyd County. He said the impact would probably be indirect, at least at first, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important.
If the university becomes part of the state system, Morehead State University will likely lose many of its students in surrounding counties to the school, he said.
MSU enrolled 1,996 students from Breathitt, Floyd, Johnson, Knott, Letcher, Magoffin, Martin and Pike counties in Fall 2011, according to the university website.
That would mean a loss of revenue for the school at a time when schools have already suffered some major cuts in state funding.
“The pie’s still there, but it’s a smaller pie,” Tolliver said of state funding for universities.
Less revenue for Morehead could mean changes at the university ranging from increases in tuition for students to possibly eliminating MSU’s programs in Ashland through a partnership with Ashland Community and Technical College, Tolliver said.
He said that option hasn’t been discussed to his knowledge, but he still sees it as a possibility.
Commissioner Tom Jackson said he opposes the University of Pikeville becoming a public university because he doesn’t like the idea that it will be paid for through coal severance funds.
Coal severance money is an important resource for counties that use it for projects throughout the year, he said.
“It provides a lot of funding for Boyd County,” he said.
Jackson said he thinks it’s wrong to take away that money from counties to pay for making Pikeville into a public university.
KATIE BRANDENBURG can be reached at kbrandenburg@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2653.
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