With a new president and millions from the state, is Kentucky State U. bouncing back?
When Koffi Akakpo became president of Kentucky State University last year, he knew it wasn’t going to be an easy task.
The university was facing several major problems. A multi-million dollar budget shortage resulted in needing $23 million from the state to continue operating. The university was placed on a management improvement plan, which is being overseen by the state until 2025.
An audit from the Office of the Auditor of Public Accounts revealed years of widespread overspending, a lack of financial control and misuse of university funds by previous administrators. Enrollment was down, and across the university, faculty and staff positions were hard to fill.
Akakpo, who came to KSU from Bluegrass Community and Technical College in Lexington, wasn’t daunted. He came in with three main goals: balance the budget, tighten internal controls and grow enrollment.
Going into the 2024-25 school year, the budget is balanced and the university has begun building its cash reserves, Akakpo said.
“I’ve very proud that within one year, we have been able to balance the budget that has not been balanced in many, many years,” Akakpo said. “Since 2021, there have been some cash infusions to the university. And this year, we were able to present a balanced budget and a fund balance.”
Early numbers show a 4% increase in enrollment for the fall, and Akakpo has challenged the university to increase enrollment to 3,000 students in coming years. KSU is Kentucky’s only public historically Black college, and enrollment for the fall 2023 semester was 1,304, according to KSU’s online data. Internal controls have been put in place, and new employees were hired in the finance office to ensure the university stays on track, Akakpo said.
New educational programs at KSU
Aaron Thompson, president of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, said he feels like KSU has “lost some years” with the challenges faced since 2021, but Akakpo has been working to get the university back on track.
“When Dr. Akakpo came in to KSU, I’m sure he did not fully realize exactly what his base was,” Thompson said. “It was not where anybody would be happy to come into. He’s been able to adjust to probably a worse-case scenario than he thought, to really start doing the things that needed to be done.”
Thompson pointed specifically to Akakpo’s work on the school’s budget, but said that was only the beginning of his work on improving the circumstances at KSU.
“He has been truly exceptional, even in that one year,” Thompson said.
Akakpo has also worked to launch several new educational programs, including an engineering degree and a fully virtual degree program, that includes psychology, nursing and cybersecurity. The online program officially launched this summer, with more than 120 students enrolled, a number that is expected to grow, a university spokesperson said.
Classes for the fall semester begin on Aug. 19.
Akakpo is also proud of the investment in the nursing programs at KSU, he said. There’s a new registered nurse to bachelor of science in nursing (RN to BSN) pathway, which allows registered nurses with an associate’s degree or other certification to earn a BSN through online education. KSU has also introduced a second degree BSN, which allows students who already have a bachelor’s degree to earn a BSN in 16 months, Akakpo said.
“We’re a small but mighty institution,” Akakpo said.
Dorm, academic building repairs needed
When Akakpo became president, several deadlines in the management improvement plan had been set by CPE and the previous interim administration. Travis Powell, CPE general counsel who has worked closely with KSU on the management improvement plan, said the university is on track with most of the tasks outlined in the plan. All items in the improvement plan are expected to be completed by the end of 2025, Powell said.
There are still several challenges ahead of KSU, Akakpo said. The campus needs major physical repairs, including dorms, academic buildings and an updated HVAC system. To update dorms, the plan is to renovate housing facilities one at a time, to be able to still house students who live on campus and update the campus-wide HVAC system as repairs continue.
Additionally, there are audits that need to be completed from previous years. Last year, KSU was given a warning from their accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), for financial problems. Akakpo said those issues are from before he became president, but representatives from SACSCOC will be on campus this fall, and he hopes the warning will be resolved at the accrediting agency’s December meeting.
“We still have room to grow, but I’m proud of where we are so far, what we have so far, and what we can do,” Akakpo said.