Background

CHAPTER 1. CURRENT TRENDS IN KANSAS POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION

In 1970 the Kansas system of postsecondary education encompassed 63 public and private institutions and served 94,000 fulltime equivalent (FTE) students at an operating cost of 180 million dollars. Since that time the total enrollment has increased slightly and is expected to continue to gradually rise until it peaks at about 105,000 students in 1979. The cost of postsecondary education will almost double during the 1970's to 350 million dollars. Inflation based on an annual rate of five percent will account for 63 percent of the 170 million dollar increase in operating expenditures during this decade.

Beginning in 1980, postsecondary enrollments will drop sharply. This decline, which will extend through 1990 before reversing again, will be a reflection of the substantial drop in birth rates during the 1960's.

SYSTEM OF INSTITUTIONS, 1970

The system of institutions in 1970 included seven public four-year colleges, eighteen private four-year colleges, nineteen community junior colleges, five private junior colleges, thirteen vocationaltechnical schools and one technical institute. The existing geographic network of institutions is illustrated in Figure 1.

The form of postsecondary governance is widely variant among institutions and type of institutions. Six of the public four-year colleges and universities are governed by the Kansas Board of Regents; Washburn University is governed by a municipal board in Topeka which includes a representative from the Kansas Board of Regents. Each of the private colleges and universities, both two-year and four-year, is responsible to a board affiliated with a religious order or denomination. All public two-year institutions are within the jurisdiction of the Kansas State Board of Education; however, at the local level they are subject to a number of varying arrangements of governance and control.

5 There are currently two less colleges than there were in 1970. Mount St. Scholastica and St. Benedict's College, both located in Atchison, merged to form Benedictine in 1971, and Miltonvale merged with Bartlesville, Oklahoma Wesleyan College in 1972.

6 Projections throughout Chapter 1 are based on the existing system of institutions and assume no major changes in social, economic, political or other trends that affect Kansas postsecondary instruction. The procedures used to forecast future educational requirements are described in a subsequent MPC report.

Enrollment

In 1970, 85 percent of all postsecondary students were enrolled in public institutions. These public students were predominantly (90 percent) graduates of Kansas high schools, whereas 50 percent of the students enrolled in private colleges were from out of state. Approximately 60 percent of entering public and private students attended four-year institutions. A detailed enrollment report by class is presented in Table 1 for (a) public institutions and (b) public and private groupings by institutional type.

First-year enrollments, which provide an indication of overall enrollment trends in the near future, are presented in Figure 2 for the years 1965 through 1970 for each of the institutional types as percentages of total first-year enrollments. The fastest growing sectors of postsecondary education during this period were the community junior college and the area vocational-technical school. Although overall enrollments of private colleges as a whole exhibited stability, the number of students entering at the first-year level began to markedly decline. A similar decline, but to a lesser extent, was experienced at the freshman level of the public four-year college group.

Finance

In 1970, the total operating cost of Kansas postsecondary education was 180 million dollars. Of this amount 86 percent was spent for public education. Unit institutional operating costs ranged from $868 to $3972 per FTE student an indication of wide differences in such factors as objectives, programs and enrollments. The average cost per full-time equivalent student was $1918.

Sources of revenue also differed markedly from institution to institution and from type to type. In 1970, state and federal taxes constituted the following percentages of operating revenue:

A detailed expenditure and revenue report is presented in Table 2 for (a) public institutions and (b) public and private groupings by institutional type.