FRANKFORT, Ky. – It's known as the "Powerball promise" in Kentucky – lottery money going to education, and state law requiring more than half of it to be used for need-based scholarships.

But for years lawmakers have swept millions of dollars earmarked for the College Access Program (CAP) and the Kentucky Tuition Grant Program into the state's general fund.

Dustin Pugel, a research and policy associate with the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, says the General Assembly's new two-year budget was going to come close to meeting the statutory requirement before more than $40 million in line-item vetoes by Gov. Matt Bevin.

Pugel says the changes will keep the state far short of full lottery funding for need-based aid.

"The House and Senate had, more or less, fulfilled the Powerball promise and with the veto of sections of HB 10, there are 22,000 fewer students who are going to be able to take advantage of those scholarships," he points out.

Bevin says the budget "dedicates all available lottery proceeds entirely to education, as originally promised to Kentuckians."

But, Pugel says the final budget does not spend the lottery dollars as the law originally intended, instead redirecting funds to other education programs, including dual credit and Work Ready Kentucky Scholarships.

Bevin says that is an "appropriate" use of lottery funds.

University of Kentucky senior Brooke Stewart says she's "very grateful" for the CAP money she's been able to get, convincing her the program deserves full funding.

"I was just truly disappointed that education assistance wasn't at the top of his (governor's) priority list,” she states. “I have friends that have taken semesters off just because they could not afford it."

Pugel says more money for need-based scholarships is crucial with state funding to the state's public colleges and universities being cut and tuition going up, again.

"As it stands, neither Work Ready nor the dual credit scholarships are need-based,” he stresses. “So, we can't even really say that that money is going to low-income students who really are in the most need of assistance to be able to have the opportunity for higher education."

Pugel acknowledges that even with the governor's veto, need-based scholarships will still get a $15 million bump in the new budget to around $199 million over two years.

He also hopes that $9.4 million in lottery money freed up by Bevin's one-year delay of the Work Ready Program will be redirected to need-based aid.





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After several weeks of public comment, bills addressing school finance in Texas will be presented to the House of Representatives.

House Bill 2 is the public school funding bill and Senate Bill 2 is the voucher proposal, along with its companion bill, House Bill 3.

Chandra Villanueva, director of policy and advocacy for the group Every Texan, said the proposed voucher initiative, which would provide students $10,000 to help pay for private school, would hurt public schools and low-income families.

"Our schools are funded based on attendance, so when kids leave the system, the schools will get less money," Villanueva explained. "Until you can actually close a campus, you still have all of your same fixed costs around utilities, teachers. You'll see more overcrowded classrooms."

Backers of school vouchers, including Gov. Greg Abbott, have said public schools will not be negatively affected. This is the second legislative session where Abbott has made a voucher program his top priority.

Teachers, advocacy groups and even members of the Republican Party have spoken out against vouchers. Many Texas teachers spent their spring break testifying before the legislative committee. Villanueva emphasized although the proposal is out of committee, they are not giving up.

"Members need to hear from their constituents," Villanueva stressed. "The public education committee has been targeted the most -- but even now, if your member is not on that committee, they're going to be the ones who are hearing this bill. And a lot of amendments are going to be offered up on the House floor. So that's an opportunity to try to limit the voucher, try to put more guardrails on it."

Both bills are expected to be brought to the House floor at the same time, but a date has not been set.


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Nearly 22,000 Florida college students could lose critical tuition help under a state House budget proposal.

The plan would cut $3,500 annual grants for students at 15 private schools throughout the state, including three historically Black universities and Embry-Riddle, the nation's top civilian flight school.

House lawmakers tied eligibility for Florida's Effective Access to Student Education (EASE) program to five performance metrics, including a 54% graduation rate and affordability benchmarks.

Bob Boyd, president of Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida, warned of fallout.

"It's going to really devastate our sector," he said. "These are students pursuing nursing degrees, becoming pilots, teachers, and they are going to - a lot of them will drop out of their high-demand degree fields because they're not getting this voucher."

House leaders have said their new performance metrics ensure accountability - affecting just 1.2% of Florida's higher-ed students. But Boyd noted that his schools produce 30% of Florida's nurses while getting just 2% of state funding.

Keiser University Vice Chancellor Belinda Keiser said the cuts would hit non-traditional students hardest - working adults, single parents and first-generation college-goers who rely on these grants.

"Thirty-five hundred dollars a year over the next four years will be taken away," she said. "That might cause some of those students pursuing nursing, pursuing Homeland Security, pursuing cyber - and we offer all those degrees - to drop out. And to me, talent should always be one of your best investments."

The Senate's budget fully funds EASE without new metrics, setting up a clash in the conference committee. Lawmakers must reach a deal by April 29 to allow the constitutionally required 72-hour budget review before the May legislative deadline.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


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Registration is open for the next information session for the Doswell School of Aeronautical Sciences at Texas Woman's University in Denton, where students accepted into the program will study to earn their pilot's license.

The school is the only woman-focused university nationwide with a professional pilot's program.

Clinton Grant, director of the school, explained the program.

"Once they go through all of the steps to get into the program and the semester starts within a week or so they're in an airplane flying," Grant noted. "It's not something they have to wait later as their junior (or) senior years before they get into it. We start them as quickly as we can. So it's a lot of fun."

The program is limited to 25 students in the fall and spring semesters. The next information session is April 11.

During the information session, Grant pointed out he tries to weed out the students who may not be serious about becoming a pilot. In addition to tuition and fees the cost of flight training could exceed over $100,000 and it can take up to seven years to earn a pilot's license.

"Most flight students, they'll become flight instructors," Grant observed. "They turn around and start teaching students to fly and that's how they build their hours. And then once they reach a certain amount of hours they'll be eligible to be employed by a regional carrier."

The aeronauts program is still in its infancy. The first classes were held in the fall of 2024. Grant added as they grow, they will have more options for students.

"We're going to get into some of the air mobility things as well as operations management or aviation management," Grant outlined. "There's a demand in the area for that. So, we will be heading in that direction next."

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


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