Overview
- Senate Bill 185 passed the Kentucky Senate with a unanimous vote and now moves to the House, with an emergency clause that would activate changes as soon as it becomes law.
- The measure declares five years of financial exigency and gives the Council on Postsecondary Education control over spending above $20,000, requires monthly financial reports, forbids deficits, and orders aggressive debt collection including tax refund intercepts.
- The bill would convert Kentucky State University into a polytechnic focused on hands-on, workforce programs and limit in-person offerings to no more than 10 areas starting in the 2026–27 school year.
- Enrollment for on-campus study would be capped at 1,000 students with new entry rules of a 2.5 high school GPA and an ACT score of 18, and the president could fire any employee, including tenured faculty, with 30 days’ notice.
- KSU President Koffi Akakpo and key sponsors back the plan as a way to stabilize and reposition the state’s only public HBCU, while students and alumni warn it would cut programs and weaken the university’s identity.