Lawmakers look to make major cuts to Kentucky State University, reduce majors
In the final stretch of the legislative session, Kentucky lawmakers want to bring major cuts to Kentucky State University, gutting the school to just 10 majors and cutting enrollment, while placing major financial oversight in the hands of the state.
Senate Bill 185, sponsored by Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ryland Heights, passed out of the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee Wednesday afternoon. Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong, D-Louisville, passed on voting.
The Senate passed the bill on a unanimous vote Thursday afternoon and it now heads to the House for consideration.
SB 185 was originally a “shell bill,” which are filed and given necessary readings and assignments so lawmakers can strip them and put something new in at the last minute. The committee substitute adopted in the Senate Committee meeting contained the language overhauling Kentucky State University, the state’s only public historically Black university.
Lawmakers said they considered closing the school, which has been plagued by financial and accreditation problems in recent years, but are instead proposing these changes. The school is “in a state of financial exigency that needs to be remedied,” the bill says.
“Many of us had a chance to meet with (KSU President Dr. Koffi C.) Akapo, after taking a hard look at many of the things that have happened at Kentucky State under his leadership, and after hearing his recognition of the great days of the past of Kentucky State and his vision for the future of the university, we became convinced that now was not the time to explore a closure of Kentucky State but rather to be a partner in the redefinition of this institution and what it can mean for the Commonwealth,” McDaniel said.
In the original bill transactions over $5,000 would need to be approved by the Council on Postsecondary Education, the body that oversees higher education in Kentucky, under the bill.
Aaron Thompson, president of the Kentucky Council of Postsecondary Education, said the bill is not just about addressing financial issues, but setting up KSU for success.
“How can we be proactive (in) really designing an institution that goes even way beyond HBCU and the land grant to that of where Kentucky really needs to be situated to help,” Thompson said. “This can be an important driver of getting us to that economic development place with the highly educated workforce that KSU can provide.”
Minority Floor Leader Gerald Neal, D-Louisville, asked if McDaniel would be willing to increase the $5,000 threshold to potentially $20,000, because he believed the amount as written would place a burden on the Kentucky Council of Postsecondary Education.
McDaniel said he would be open to potentially finding a new limit between “$5,000 and $20,000.”
A Senate floor amendment that got added to the legislation Thursday raised that cap to $20,000.
Neal said on the Senate floor he was grateful for McDaniel to adding the amendment and responding to his concerns and questions as a KSU alum.
“This is not a time for pointing fingers,” Neal said. “It’s a time for coming together, and that’s why I must say that I appreciate the way the senator from Kenton handled this matter. “
The bill could also include layoffs, as it says KSU would only be allowed to retain faculty and staff necessary to support an enrollment of 1,000 students.
McDaniel clarified to reporters the bill’s current state would place an enrollment cap of 1,000 in-person students but said that language will get changed.
“We’re going to change that ... to support the target of at least 1,000,” McDaniel said.
The Senate floor amendment also added that language, removing the enrollment cap of 1,000 in-person students and changing it to “at least” 1,000 in-person students.
KSU has just over 2,500 students enrolled in the fall 2025 semester, according to CPE data. KSU currently offers more than 40 “areas of study,” according to the university’s website.
Under the bill, starting in the 2026-2027 school year and continuing for five years, KSU could only offer 10 majors, excluding online programs, the College of Education and any majors determined by CPE to be necessary.
Students with an outstanding balance of more than $1,000 would not be allowed to be readmitted or enroll in the university.
Akapo said he has been grateful for working with McDaniel and House and Senate leadership on the legislation but did not explicitly answer whether the bill could lead to program and faculty cuts.
“My intent is now that this is public, I’m going to be talking to faculty, students, staff, and assure them that this is going to be done in a very methodical way,” Akapo said. “We’re not going to just go in a hasty way and do any something ... but we will make sure we’re very thoughtful.”
It also outlines steps for KSU to pay any outstanding bills amounting to more than $1,000 that have been due for more than 60 days.
KSU’s previous financial, accreditation problems
KSU has been plagued by financial problems in recent years, with the school placed under state oversight from 2021 to 2025, when its former president resigned as the university was facing a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall.
The state legislature gave KSU $23 million to address the shortfall in 2022, and as part of receiving those funds, the university had to create a management improvement plan with CPE.
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 special examination of KSU’s finances from the Office of the Auditor of Public Accounts found numerous issues related to finances and the university’s finance office, including poor internal controls and communication, failure to ensure an effective budgeting process, and widespread overspending and credit card usage. The audit looked at financial activity from July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2021, under former president M. Christopher Brown II.
It found 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. There was more than $1.3 million in credit card transactions with little to no documentation, and improper financial documentation put more than $3 million in federal funding at risk.
Later that same year, the university was issued a warning from its accrediting body for failing to meet 16 standards related to university finances and governance. The university is currently listed as on “probation for good cause” with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, in which is till be monitored for a maximum of two years for compliance.
In December of this year, the SACSCOC board will reconsider the accreditation status of KSU, and at that time the accreditation can either continue or be removed.
This story was originally published March 25, 2026 at 4:13 PM.
