A Kansas bill would create a commission to evaluate the efficiency of higher education. Outlined in the bill, members of the commission would provide recommendations to the legislature in an attempt to positively impact the affordability and accessibility of institutions. 

If House Bill 2402 passes, a commission will be put together to gather information on the efficiency of universities, community colleges and technical schools. It would also give recommendations for each, which could include the merging of institutions. The bill was sent to the House Committee on Education in March. 

“The Legislature, I think, is asking the questions, ‘Are we being as efficient as we can be as a state with our resources?’” Chief of Staff and Executive Director of Government Relations Zach Gearhart said. “Especially knowing that we are going into tougher budget years than we have been in the past.”

The bill would also evaluate the strategies institutions have for degree completion and “streamlining higher education for the future with a student focus.” Legislators have argued that this will strengthen Kansas’s system of higher education. 

“I think if they’re going to ask us to be more careful and thoughtful about how we spend the money as a system, does it make sense for every institution to have physical advising offices on every campus?” Gearhart said. “Does it make sense that every institution has student support services? You know, some of those obviously have impacts on students, but we haven’t really been told what specific examples do they want to hone in on.”

The Kansas budget for higher education is about $1 billion. Gearhart said the Legislature is most likely concerned with making sure state funds are being used as efficiently as possible by the institutions, since higher education makes up a large part of the state’s budget.

“I think they go and they look at other states and they ask themselves, ‘Is this a structure that makes sense in the 21st century when we have as much learning that can be done online and different avenues that might be more cost effective?’” Gearhart said. 

Originally, the idea behind this bill was introduced 20 years ago, but it was shut down by legislators and hasn’t been talked about again until recently. So far, it has passed the House and was introduced to the Senate on March 18. 

Gearhart said he thinks some of the goals behind the commission are “probably worth considering.” 

“A lot of time has gone by (since the bill was first talked about),” Gearhart said. “You have, probably, a system that is not as perfectly aligned as it could be that creates issues of consternation at times … I think it’s fair for them to ask questions.”