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The Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) Board of Regents announced Friday the adoption of a budget for the upcoming fiscal year, that includes a pay raise for staff members and a tuition increase for students.

During a two-day meeting held at West Kentucky Community and Technical College in Paducah, the Regents approved a budget of $992,588,400 for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.  It provides a $2,000 base salary increase for regular full-time employees.

“I fully support the board’s decision to approve employee raises for the second year in a row,” said KCTCS Interim President Larry Ferguson.  “A sustainable investment in our workforce is important.  Their hard work, dedication, and commitment to excellence are the driving forces behind our success as a community college system.”

Regents also approved the adoption of the initial recommendations derived from a comprehensive study conducted by the Huron Consulting Group, an external agency that was hired last year to evaluate a broad range of business practices within the system.

The initial recommendations from Huron encompass a variety of priorities centered around space utilization, optimization of academic programming, and financial and organizational assessments.

“KCTCS is now twenty-five years old,” Board of Regents Chair James Stevens noted. “Taking a detailed look at how we are currently conducting business and making some necessary adjustments is the only way forward towards those next twenty-five years.”

A detailed report from the Huron study along with initial recommendations will be released at a later time.

KCTCS is Kentucky’s largest postsecondary institution with 16 colleges serving nearly 100,000 students each academic year.