By Jay K. Box - HCTC President/CEO

If you have read our newspaper advertisements, heard our ads on the radio, or seen our promotions on the TV, you most likely realized that our advertisements always close with the statement "Hazard Community and Technical College--A Brighter Future, Close to Home." The slogan, "a brighter future close to home," was developed by our Marketing Team almost three years ago. When the team had interviewed current students about why they had chosen HCTC, the group found that students most often responded that the college provided them a quality education at a fair price right here in our community without having to move away from home.

The students' comments did not surprise us. As one of 16 college districts in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS), Hazard Community and Technical College is proud of our history of providing access to higher education to the citizens of the Kentucky River Area Development District. Our research shows that 62% of all high school graduates within KRADD who attend college enroll at HCTC. In addition, almost nine percent of all adults ages 18-64 in Breathitt, Knott, Leslie, and Perry counties have taken courses at HCTC during the last four years. That number is far and away better than any other community college in the state.

But access to higher education is being threatened. HCTC, as has Kentucky's other public colleges and universities, has suffered four budget cuts in State appropriations since 2001. The Kentucky Community and Technical College System has been cut $18 million over the last four years. HCTC's share of that has been over $700,000. Meanwhile costs have continued to rise. And so has tuition.

In 2001, Hazard Community and Technical College's budget reflected that 25% of the public funds used to operate the college was generated by tuition. Today, that figure is 39%. State government's continuous cuts to higher education have caused a tuition "tax" to be placed on our students. Although at $92 per credit hour, our tuition remains the cheapest of all of the state's institutions of higher education, the tuition rate has begun to put a squeeze on our students' budgets. Over 200 students showed up at a recent tuition hearing conducted by the college and KCTCS. Their message was loud and clear, "if you continue to raise our tuition, we won't be able to afford to go to college."

For our HCTC students, the choice is not whether they go to HCTC or to another Kentucky college or university, it is whether or not they go to college at all. This has been most evident with our part-time students. HCTC now enrolls 300 fewer part-time students than it did four years ago. Part-time students do not traditionally qualify for financial aid and there are no scholarships currently available for them. They are working full-time jobs, taking care of family, and just trying to make ends meet. Access is being restricted.

KCTCS and Hazard Community and Technical College are attempting to address the reduction in State funds in several ways. We continue to work with the Governor and our elected state representatives and senators to encourage them to restore the $18 million that has been cut in the last four years. In addition, we are seeking more grants and direct appropriations from the Federal government than ever before. Furthermore, we have begun an ambitious major gifts campaign called "Fulfilling the Promise" that will ask for private donations to supplement our budget and help us reach our educational goals for the next five years.

Yes, Hazard Community and Technical College has provided a brighter future close to home for many decades. However, that access to higher education continues to be threatened by under funding by our State government. Governor Fletcher's proposed budget does include a minimal increase in funding for higher education. But the proposed budget appears to come up short in restoring the millions of dollars that have been cut from higher education budgets over the last four years. As the General Assembly debates the budget and the proposed tax modernization plan in the coming weeks, I would encourage you to call or write our elected state officials and ask them to support additional funding for higher education. Ask them to keep the future bright for Eastern Kentucky.