Multimedia Reporting (Kuhr-Musser)

Douglas County officials are tired of waiting. By now, they say, they should not have to pay for students attending community colleges.

In 2005 the county spent $361,177 on community college out-district tuition, said Craig Weinaug, Douglas County administrator. Even though that’s only one percent of the counties’ budget, it should have been phased out by 2003, said Weinaug.

“We are not responsible to maintain the community colleges,” said Weinaug. “We have no control or responsibility for universities or community colleges, nor do we want it.”

Higher Education Coordination ActThe Higher Education Coordination Act was passed in 1999 that was supposed to eliminate the out-district tuition counties had to pay by 2003.

Out-district tuition is defined by Tom Sloan, State Rep. 45th District, as the money paid by counties not having a community college to the community college that is educating students from the paying counties.

That phase out has not happened.

According to Sheila Frahm, Executive Director of the Kansas Association of Community College Trustees Kansas Association of Community College Trustees (KACCT), the plan was supposed to take four years to complete. After two years the plan was frozen due to a shortage of state revenue, said Frahm.

Judy Moler, General Counsel for the Kansas Association of CountiesKansas Association of Counties, is frustrated.

“It (out-district tuition phase out) was a promise made by the legislature to be in place by 2003, now it is 2006 and it is still here,” said Moler.

In Douglas County, out-district tuition is the only expenditure that the county has no control over within their budget, said Weinaug. In 2000 Douglas County was paying 24 dollars for every credit hour that a Douglas County resident enrolled at a community college. At this time, the county was paying almost $6-700,000 in out-district tuition to community colleges, said Weinaug.

Now, the out-district tuition is down to six dollars a credit-hour with 2006 “supposed” to be the last year of the phase-out, said Frahm. Rep. Sloan also echoed these thoughts.

According to Rep. Sloan, the state spent $191.1 million in total higher education in FY 2006, with $91.1 million going to community colleges. In the end of 2004, all of the 19 community colleges compiled $6,46,300 of out-district tuition at six dollars a credit hour said Frahm.

Most Douglas County residents that attended a community college went to Johnson County Community College in 2005, according to Weinaug. Of the $361,177 spent on out-district tuition to community colleges, $248, 052 went to JCCC, said Weinaug. The total out-district tuition billed to all 15 counties by JCCC in 2005 was $500,000, according to Frahm. MargE Shelley, Director of Enrollment Management at JCCC, said that currently there are 1,276 students this spring enrolled from Douglas County and the county has been billed $189,000 at six dollars a credit-hour.

Frahm said that the KACCT is supportive of the phase out of out-district tuition as long as everything goes as planned.

“If the state makes up the money than we should be fine,” said Frahm.

Frahm and the KACCT, a not-for-profit organization, watch out for everything involved with the 19 community colleges. The Higher Education Coordination Act just changed the fact that the money now comes from the Board of Regents as opposed to the Board of Education, according to Frahm. The community colleges have dealt with the loss of out-district tuition by an off-set of state aid, but the state aid has not been as much as promised due to a tight state budget, said Frahm.

The lack of state revenue has caused counties, such as Douglas County, to continue to pay out-district tuition. With this in mind, county officials are still not happy paying for something they have no control over, but one thing is certain according to Weinaug.

“We don’t think we are the appropriate way to fund community colleges,” said Weinaug.