Education

Enrollment in the Kansas Board of Regents system of public universities and colleges this fall grew by 2% despite the 12.5% enrollment collapse at Emporia State University. (Max McCoy/Kansas Reflector)

Kansas public university, college enrollment grows despite 12.5% plunge at Emporia State

BY: - September 27, 2023

Enrollment at Kansas public universities and colleges increased this fall by 2%, while Emporia State University endured a 12.5% enrollment collapse.

Emporia State University

Emporia State University defends changes ahead of declining enrollment report

BY: - September 26, 2023

EMPORIA — Emporia State University president Ken Hush downplayed the significance of the university’s declining enrollment in an open letter Tuesday preempting the official release of fall enrollment figures across state universities. The Kansas Board of Regents plans to release enrollment figures Wednesday, and the numbers will show a decline at ESU. The extent isn’t […]

Blake Flanders, president and CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents, said a University of Kansas labor study indicated colleges and universities in the state needed to do more to serve growing demand in the workplace for graduates with bachelor's degree. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

Labor study: Kansas faces shortfall of 34,000 college-educated workers through 2030

BY: - September 25, 2023

A new University of Kansas economic study indicated Kansas was on pace to fall 34,000 short in terms of college-educated workers through 2030.

Jon Rolph, chairman of the Kansas Board of Regents, led colleagues and higher education officials through a discussion Wednesday to reduce requests for $570 million in new state funding to a more palatable amount. The full board is expected to vote Thursday on a unified higher education budget proposal. (Screen capture from the Kansas Board of Regents livestream)

Kansas Board of Regents sculpt $300 million plan for boosting state aid to public higher education

BY: - September 21, 2023

The Kansas Board of Regents is working to pare down more than $500 million in budget requests by the state's 32 public colleges and universities.

OPINION
Brandon Parks, vice president of the Gardner Edgerton school board, said timing of the departure of Superintendent Pam Stranathan would be disruptive to the district and finding a replacement could be difficult because of the high number of retirements among school administrators in Kansas. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

School board changes can destroy students’ educational opportunities. We’re paying attention.

BY: - September 19, 2023

As a student who attended the Gardner-Edgerton School District from middle school through high school, graduating only four years ago, it breaks my heart to know my 17-year-old sister has not been enjoying the same quality of education that I did. When I first came to Gardner in the 5th grade, my family worried about […]

Kansas State Board of Education members Deena Horst of Salina and Danny Zeck of Atchison listen as state Department of Education members outline details of Senate Bill 113, a K-12 education funding and policy bill on the desk of Gov. Laura Kelly. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

‘I admit that I masturbate’: Kansas State Board of Education member laments ‘smut’ in libraries

BY: - September 14, 2023

TOPEKA — Kansas State Board of Education member Danny Zeck quoted from the much-debated teen book “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” as he turned a state meeting on book removal practices into a ideological discussion of why “smut,” as he calls these books, is allowed in local schools. “I admit that I masturbate,” […]

OPINION

When a high school student and coach collide, Kansas officials’ sympathy doesn’t flow equally

BY: - September 14, 2023

Possibly the best definition of modern racism came from journalist and author Ta-Nehisi Coates, who described it as “broad sympathy for some, broad skepticism of others.” This axiom came to mind recently during an email exchange with a private school administrator who seemed unbothered by secretly recorded comments his basketball coach, Mitch Fiegel, made about […]

“Gender Queer,” a graphic memoir by Maia Kobabe, was the most challenged book in America in 2022, according to the American Library Association.

U.S. Senate hearing on book bans probes censorship attempts in local libraries

BY: - September 12, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. senators at a committee hearing Tuesday discussed the consequences of book bans and parents’ desire to control what their kids read — though they also acknowledged it’s not an issue for Congress to settle. The Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony about book bans, focusing on how censorship limits liberty and literature. The […]

House Speaker Dan Hawkins appears April 27, 2023, on the House floor with an image of Corky — the Emporia State University mascot.

Emporia State University forges new identity with $9M earmark from Kansas Legislature

BY: - September 12, 2023

TOPEKA — Emporia State University’s new structure, underwritten by a $9 million earmark in the state budget, comes with a new marketing slogan and a new explanation for last year’s dramatic upheaval. Legislative leaders and university administrators describe the so-called “ESU model,” which involved the firing of tenured faculty members under the guise of a […]

President Joe Biden talks on the phone with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on June 7, 2023, in the Oval Office of the White House, about the Canadian wild fires and the smoke blanketing parts of the U.S.

New student loan repayment program benefits far fewer Kansans than original debt plan

BY: - September 6, 2023

TOPEKA — For thousands of Kansans knee-deep in student debt, relief will come soon —  just not as much relief as initially promised.  The Biden administration announced Tuesday that more than 4 million federal student loan borrowers have been enrolled in the Saving on A Valuable Education, or SAVE, program. In Kansas, 35,000 borrowers are […]

U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona asks for Kansas educators' input on necessary educational reforms during a Sept. 5 bus tour. (Rachel Mipro/Kansas Reflector)

U.S. education secretary touts Kansas school initiatives, national debt forgiveness

BY: - September 5, 2023

TOPEKA —Education will combat ignorance, U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said, stressing diversity and debt forgiveness on the first leg of a Midwest bus tour meant to promote the Biden administration’s education initiatives.  The inaugural event was held at the Topeka Center for Advanced Learning and Careers, where students partner with businesses for learning initiatives. […]

An anonymous donor has given the School of Business at the University of Kansas a gift of $50 million to advance the academic work of faculty and serve interests of business students on the Lawrence campus. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

Anonymous benefactor donates $50 million to University of Kansas’ business school

BY: - September 5, 2023

Anonymous donor commits $50 million to business school at University of Kansas in Lawrence — the largest gift to the school in KU history.