Latest news with #CouncilonPostsecondaryEducation
Boston Globe
3 days ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Justice Department challenges Kentucky rule allowing in-state tuition for undocumented students
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in a federal court in Kentucky, follows a similar action by Trump's administration in another red state as part of its efforts to crack down on immigration. Advertisement A federal judge blocked a Texas law that had given college students without legal residency access to reduced in-state tuition. That order only applied to Texas but was seen as an opening for conservatives to challenge similar laws in two dozen states. Such laws were intended to help 'Dreamers,' or young adults without legal status, to be eligible for in-state tuition if they meet certain residency criteria. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'The Department of Justice just won on this exact issue in Texas, and we look forward to fighting in Kentucky to protect the rights of American citizens,' Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. The lawsuits in both states follow recent executive orders signed by Trump designed to stop any state or local laws or regulations the administration feels discriminate against legal residents. Advertisement The Texas suit listed the State of Texas as the defendant but did not name the state's Republican governor as a defendant. The suit in Kentucky names Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear as one of the defendants. The Kentucky regulation in question appears to have been issued by the state's Council on Postsecondary Education before 2010, Beshear's office said Wednesday in a statement that attempted to separate the governor from the legal fight. Beshear — who was first elected governor in 2019 and is now in his second and last term due to term limits — is widely seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2028. Beshear spokeswoman Crystal Staley said the governor has no authority to alter the regulations of the education council, or CPE, and should not be a party to the lawsuit. 'Under Kentucky law, CPE is independent, has sole authority to determine student residency requirements for the purposes of in-state tuition and controls its own regulations,' Staley said in the statement. Beshear in the past has denounced Trump's anti-immigrant language as dangerous and dehumanizing and has called for a balanced approach on immigration: one that protects the nation's borders but recognizes the role legal immigration plays in meeting business employment needs. Beshear has said he believes that 'Dreamers' should be able to get full American citizenship. A spokeswoman for CPE, another defendant in the Kentucky case, said Wednesday that its general counsel was reviewing the lawsuit and regulation but had no additional comments. Kentucky's Republican attorney general, Russell Coleman, said he has 'serious concerns' that CPE's policy violates federal law and said his office supports the Trump administration's efforts. A handful of Republican lawmakers in Kentucky tried to bring up the issue during this year's legislative session but their bill made no headway in the GOP-supermajority legislature. The measure would have blocked immigrants in the state illegally from claiming Kentucky residency for the purpose of paying in-state tuition at a state college or university. Advertisement The Justice Department suit says the regulation is in 'direct conflict' with federal law by allowing an undocumented student to qualify for reduced in-state tuition based on residence within the Bluegrass State, while denying that benefit to U.S. citizens who don't meet Kentucky's residency requirements. Students from other states generally pay higher tuition rates than in-state students to attend Kentucky public colleges, the suit says. Exceptions exist when a reciprocity agreement with another state allows for reduced tuition rates for qualifying students from that other state, it said. The regulation recognizes undocumented immigrants who graduated from Kentucky high schools as Kentucky residents in conflict with federal law, the suit says. 'It directly conflicts with federal immigration law's prohibition on providing postsecondary education benefits — such as lower tuition rates — based on residency to aliens not lawfully present in the United States that are not available to all U.S. citizens regardless of residency,' the suit says.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
KY's educational attainment rate edges closer to 2030 goal
HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) – According to Kentucky's Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE), the percentage of working-age Kentuckians with a postsecondary certificate or degree has risen to 56.2 percent, according to analysis from the organization. Officials say this figure is up 1.1 percentage points over the previous year and 5.9 points over the last five years. The state's goal is to reach an educational attainment rate of 60 percent by the year 2030. KYTC's high water report for April 7, 2025 'Across the board, states with highly educated workforces are more economically competitive and prosperous,' said Dr. Aaron Thompson, CPE president. 'Over my career, I've watched Kentucky's attainment level move from the bottom third of states to at or near the national average. This progress has resulted in greater economic opportunity for thousands of Kentuckians and a much stronger economic base for the state.' CPE says the attainment figure is based on the proportion of Kentucky adults, ages 25-64, who have earned a postsecondary degree at the associate, bachelor's or graduate level or a short-term certificate or industry certification. Using population and wage data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Kentucky Center for Statistics, CPE estimates that: 7 percent of Kentuckians have a postsecondary certificate or industry certification 9 percent have an associate degree 2 percent have a bachelor's degree 5 percent have a graduate or professional degree Kentucky leaders confirm 2 fatalities in flooding, warn of dangerous night ahead Officials say for comparison, 9.2 percent of Americans have an associate degree, 23.4 percent have a bachelor's degree and 14.5 percent have a graduate or professional degree, according to Lumina Foundation, a national education nonprofit. Comparable data for certificates/certifications is not available because Kentucky employs a different methodology than Lumina. 'Analysts predict that by the year 2031, 63 percent of all Kentucky jobs will require some education or training after high school,' said Travis Muncie, CPE's Chief Information Officer. 'While you won't necessarily need a four-year degree, you will need some kind of technical or vocational training after high school to achieve long-term economic security.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Republican lawmaker renews fight against diversity policies at Kentucky universities
Rep. Jennifer Decker, R-Waddy, presenting her anti-DEI bill last year on the House floor, is renewing her efforts in this legislative session. (LRC Public Information) FRANKFORT — A Republican lawmaker filed a sweeping bill Wednesday aimed at eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at Kentucky's public universities and colleges. Rep. Jennifer Decker's House Bill 4 comes as DEI programs in higher education, the private sector and federal government are under siege by Republicans, including President Donald Trump. Decker's bill would prevent colleges from spending money on DEI initiatives as well as require them to close DEI offices and eliminate all DEI officer positions by June 30, 2025. It also prevents universities from requiring students and staff to complete DEI training sessions or courses. Universities could not require individuals to endorse or condemn specific political or social viewpoints as part of hiring, tenure, admission or other processes. Decker, of Waddy, was the primary sponsor of a bill last year that also sought to curb DEI initiatives. That legislation morphed into Senate Bill 6, which died at the end of the session. Some provisions from those pieces of legislation are part of the new 43-page bill, such as authorizing the Kentucky attorney general to bring civil lawsuits against universities that do not comply with the law and allowing individuals to sue if they feel their rights have been violated. If passed, the bill would also require the Council on Postsecondary Education and universities to annually certify their compliance with the law. CPE would also have to establish an annual survey or rubric to 'assess intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity' on college campuses. A second public university in Kentucky closes its diversity office under GOP lawmakers' pressure 'With this measure, we seek to prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion, race, sex, color, or national origin, and ensure that our university campuses are free from the failed and misguided DEI policies that have proven only to make higher education less attainable for Kentuckians,' Decker said in a statement. 'To preserve academic integrity and free expression, colleges must eliminate DEI mandates that have made our campuses more divided and more expensive.' Decker declined to take questions from reporters after filing the bill Wednesday afternoon. Since the legislation died in the General Assembly last year, the University of Kentucky and Northern Kentucky University closed their DEI offices. Decker said in her statement that her bill builds on those actions 'and ensures there are appropriate guidelines in place.' Republican Senate President Robert Stivers last week said an informal working group with Kentucky lawmakers and the Office of the Attorney General discussed potential DEI legislation with Kentucky universities, which, he said, could be affected by changes from the federal level. On the national scene, DEI has come under conservative fire in recent years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned affirmative action policies in universities in 2023. Since coming into office last month, Trump has taken several steps to eliminate DEI, including signing an executive order that directed his administration to identify potential civil compliance investigations of corporations, nonprofit organizations, some higher education institutions and more. Republicans hold a supermajority in both the Kentucky House and Senate, so if they agree on a bill this session, it would likely become law. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear has repeatedly said he supports DEI programs and initiatives, but the Republican supermajority could easily override any veto he issued.
