Students May Have Aid Cut

Students attending public, four-year universities and colleges in Kansas may see cuts in their financial aid due to a legislative action on a program governing school grants.

Kansas Board of Regents spokeswoman Breeze Richardson said the grants go to the students, not the institutions themselves.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the clause added to Governor Sam Brownback’s request to the Comprehensive Grant program would only leave $2.4 million for students attending public institutions. The clause says that private independent colleges should not receive less than 75 percent or about $13 million of all need-based grants funded by Kansas.

The grant program was started in 1998, and funds have traditionally been split evenly between public and private institutions in Kansas.

Republican Senator Vicki Schmidt made a motion Wednesday to restore the even allocation of funds, but the amendment failed on a vote of 15-23.