Issue Position: COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

Issue Position

DO YOU SUPPORT FULL STATE FUNDING TO SUPPORT OUR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES INSTEAD OF CONSTANTLY RAISING THE COST OF TUITION? NO
I have and will continue to support full funding for our Kansas colleges, community colleges and universities. Ever rising tuition costs is becoming a true barrier for a lot of Kansas students who no longer see higher education as affordable.

Kansans realize that 21st century companies rarely locate in states that do not produce a well-educated work force. Kansas must explore every possible avenue for reversing spiraling tuition costs, and for making post-secondary education financially possible for every student who seeks a college education. We must also support opportunities for students to attend technical schools which provide alternative educational opportunities leading to high-paying jobs in the building trades and other industries.

Investing in our community colleges, colleges and universities is not only the right thing to do for our students; it is the economically smart thing to do for the future of Kansas. I have and will continue to work with stakeholders in private industry, teacher organizations, the leaders of our colleges, universities, and other pro-public educational institutions to create consensus-based legislation designed to keep our public schools great and our community colleges, colleges and universities world class.

DO YOU SUPPORT IN-STATE TUITION FOR CHILDREN OF UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS WHO GRADUATE FROM A KANSAS HIGH SCHOOL AND ARE TAKING STEPS TO OBTAIN U.S. CITIZENSHIP? YES
I have and will continue to support legislation that allows the children of undocumented immigrants who have graduated from a Kansas high school and are taking stops to obtain U.S. citizenship in state tuition at our colleges and universities.

ANY young person who has fulfilled the requirements necessary to graduate from a Kansas high school and who wants to pursue a college education should be applauded and supported in their efforts to achieve that goal. We should do everything in our power to see that as many of our young people as possible have access to the education they need to become good citizens and productive members of our economy. We should not only support in-state tuition for children on the path to citizenship, we should provide all students with appropriate tuition assistance, internships, work opportunities and post-graduate tuition forgiveness for those students entering critical occupations. We need to support all programs that help our young people become part of a well-trained, well informed, productive citizenry.

Source