Law overhauling KSU would cause ‘irreparable harm,’ lawsuit filed by alumni says
A group of current and former Kentucky State University students have filed a federal class action lawsuit and are asking a judge to temporarily block a new state law aimed at reshaping Kentucky’s only public historically Black university.
The plaintiffs are asking a federal judge to immediately pause key parts of Senate Bill 185, a new law passed to change KSU into a polytechnic university with a focus on degrees related to the state’s workforce needs. In their complaint, filed Monday, the students and alumni argued the law would cause “irreparable harm” to students, and is intentionally discriminatory and violates equal protection.
Among those included in the lawsuit are the state of Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear, the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, Attorney General Russell Coleman, CPE President Aaron Thompson, KSU President Koffi Akakpo, and the KSU Board of Regents.
The lawsuit seeks to keep SB 185 from being enforced permanently, but there’s also a request for a temporary injunction which would block the new law while the lawsuit is handled. The request for a temporary injunction says SB 185 would force mission changes, program closures, faculty terminations, admissions restrictions, debt-based enrollment limits, and puts the university’s accreditation at risk.
Under SB 185, KSU would remain a historically Black university and a landgrant university — a federal designation for schools with education related to agriculture, science, engineering and military science — and would continue to offer four-year degrees. But financial oversight would go to the state, as the university is in a state of “financial exigency,” according to the bill.
Lawmakers originally considered closing the university because of its financial state, they said during this year’s legislative session. The university has been plagued by financial and accreditation issues in recent years.
The lawsuit states that Kentucky officials were made aware of KSU being underfunded in 2023, when Beshear received a letter from the U.S. departments of education and agriculture that sounded the alarm of the lack of funding KSU received compared to the University of Kentucky, the state’s other landgrant funded institution.
In the letter, the federal government said “KSU had not been able to advance in ways on par with UK ... in large part due to unbalanced funding” to the tune of $172 million over the past 30 years. The lawsuit alleges that instead of addressing these discrepancies, the state instead created SB 185, in efforts to change the structure of KSU’s makeup.
Under SB 185, KSU would be required to:
- Offer no more than 10 areas of study for the next five years, along with online programs, the College of Education and other programs deemed necessary by the Council on Postsecondary Education
- Have a target enrollment of at least 1,000 in-person students
- Retain only the faculty and staff necessary to support that enrollment
- Limit enrollment only to students who do not have an outstanding balance with the school greater than $1,000 or a payment plan with the school
- Have all transactions greater than $20,000 approved by CPE.
It’s not yet clear which 10 areas of study would be offered at the polytechnic university. The university said it has begun meeting with deans and department chairs to review academic programs and implement changes outlined in the law.
Though the lawsuit is filed by current and former students, during the legislative session, SB 185 received support from a group of alumni, who said they viewed the changes as the best path forward for the HBCU.
The alumni and students’ attorney, James Morris, said the injunction seeks to preserve the university while the civil-rights lawsuit is ongoing.
“Kentucky cannot underfund its public HBCU for decades, receive repeated federal notice of that inequality, and then use the resulting financial condition as justification to dismantle the institution’s historic mission and academic structure,” Morris said in a statement.
A university spokesperson said Monday morning they had not yet received a copy of the lawsuit filed.
“For that reason, we cannot comment further at this time,” the university said in a statement. “The University remains focused on serving students and fulfilling its responsibilities under state law.”
KSU faced financial, accreditation issues in recent years
The legislature previously intervened at KSU in 2021 as the school’s financial problems came to a head.
A special examination of the university from the Office of the Auditor of Public Accounts found numerous issues related to finances under the previous president, including poor internal controls and communication, failure to ensure an effective budgeting process, and widespread overspending and credit card usage.
The report identified 20 issues related to finances at the university and noted “inadequate or non-existent record keeping and continuously high rate of employee turnover,” making the audit more difficult to conduct, according to the report.
KSU was facing a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall, and in 2022, the legislature gave the university a $23 million loan. Conditions for receiving that money included creating a management improvement plan with CPE and being placed under state oversight from 2021 to 2025.
At the same time, the university’s board of regents was overhauled via a Senate bill. In 2023, Koffi Akakpo was named the new KSU president.
A final report analyzing the progress of the management improvement plan was issued last year. It found significant progress in university policies and standard operating procedures across the institution.
However, “substantial gaps remain — particularly in the area of finance,” the report from CPE and accounting firm Baker Tilly found.
“This remains the single most critical area, carrying the highest risk rating,” the report read. “Many fundamental financial processes, such as month-end close procedures, reconciliations and timely completion of financial audits, have not yet been fully implemented.”
Budget management was listed as an ongoing weakness for KSU, including fiscal controls, lack of financial reserves and collection of student accounts receivable.
The number of days of cash on hand — meaning how long the university could operate using only its cash reserves — at one time dipped to nine days in 2024. It rose to 89 days, but declined again in the fall.
The average number of days of cash on hand for universities is between 120 and 150 days, according to the report.
“At the heart of KSU’s financial challenges is a persistent lack of reliable and timely financial processes. Many foundational elements that are standard at peer institutions remain incomplete or inconsistently applied,” the report said.
KSU, which is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, was placed on “probation for good cause” in December by the accrediting body. The university will be monitored by SACSCOC for 12 months, with a special committee visiting the institution for further review.
This is a breaking story and could be updated.
