To: Senate Education Committee

From: Jim Genandt, President KTC

Date: February 13, 2020

Re: Overview of Technical Colleges

Chairwoman Baumgardner and members of the committee: Thank you for taking the time to allow me to present comments on behalf of the Kansas Association of Technical Colleges (KTC). KTC is a seven-college consortium promoting career and technical education in Kansas. We provide high-demand, high-skilled technical education to our students to meet the needs of Kansas business and industry. Our focus is workforce development, demonstration of skills and competencies to meet industry-recognized credentials, and helping our students become productive citizens and employees in our communities and in the state; they become consumers, taxpayers, and reinforce the direct, rapid return on investment of our resources to the state’s economy. As you will see from this testimony, the seven institutions achieve their mission very successfully, and with significant impact for their service areas and the state of Kansas. The Kansas Technical Colleges receive a portion of their revenue from the based on enrollment in Excel in CTE, tiered technical courses, and non-tiered courses per the cost model and appropriations provided to the Regents. The state allocations provide an average of 31% of each institution’s revenue (ranging from WSU-Tech at 20% to Salina Tech at 56%. The state’s cost model structure should provide 2/3 of the student cost for the technical colleges with students providing 1/3. The reality is just the opposite. (Community colleges are to receive 1/3 from the state, 1/3 from their local taxing authority, and 1/3 from the student.) Enrollment data from KBOR documents the growth of the technical colleges. For full-time equivalency, enrollment in the technical colleges increased by almost 3% from fall 2018 to fall 2019, for over a five-year period (2014-2019) the FTE enrollment for the technical colleges grew by almost 25%! For headcount enrollment, technical colleges grew 5.67% from 2018-2019, and the five-year average for headcount enrollment grew by more than 42%! (The other higher education sectors had decreases in both categories.) Excel in CTE is certainly a major contributor to the enrollment growth. Enrollment in Excel in CTE has increased statewide by 62% since 2014 for the participating community and technical colleges. Credit hour production within

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Excel in CTE has increased by 69% during the same five years, and credentials earned increased by 27%. (KBOR Excel in Career Technical Education Initiative, October 2019) The performance of the Kansas Technical Colleges is very good, and is also one of the less known success stories in the state (in our opinion). A few examples include: KBOR Student Success Index ✓ The completion rate for students in the technical colleges has ranged from 60-79% for the past ten years. The rate was higher in a decade ago when the job market was not as strong. The percentage of completers has dropped, but that has been shaped by the strong job market. Technical education students get skills, and often participate with program internships or clinical experience. Employers have increased job offers to our students when they demonstrate skills. More than 2/3 of technical college students complete, transfer, or continue their education. This performance exceeds the same measurement of the community colleges. Percentage of Graduates Employed in Kansas & Average Wages ✓ KBOR tracks this data several ways, including by cohort year of completion. For the data from the 2008 year of student completion, the technical college students demonstrate a 10-15% higher average of employment within Kansas than the community colleges or the entire public higher education system. This holds true with students from more recent cohorts as well. National Analysis of Return On Investment of Higher Education ✓ Georgetown University’s Center for Education and Workforce released the nation’s first comprehensive analysis of the return on investment of 4,500 colleges and universities across the nation in late 2019. One component of their analysis was on the net present value of a student’s education at an institution, and how that value extended for up to 40 years. For Kansas, the data was quite informative; here are the top ten public institutions: Institution/(national rank out of 4,500) Net Present Value over 40 years 1. Washburn Institute of Technology (502) $1,020,000 2. (520) $1,016,000 3. (756) $ 951,000 4. Manhattan Area Technical College (776) $ 947,000 5. Technical College (845) $ 932,000 6. Pratt Community College (1150) $ 871,000 7. (1236) $ 856,000 8. Washburn University (1256) $ 853,000 9. Johnson County Community College (1311) $ 846,000 10. Northwest Kansas Technical College (1346) $ 843,000 The three other technical colleges rank nationally as: WSU-Tech (1817), Salina Tech (1917), and Tech (1983). Washburn Tech, Manhattan Tech, and North Central Tech are in

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the top 20% of the nation for ROI. All seven Kansas Technical Colleges rank in the top 44% nationally for ROI. Economic Impact of Kansas Technical Colleges in their Service Areas ✓ Each of the institutions commissioned an updated economic impact report from EMSI, a nationally recognized leader for such data. The overall economic impact and relationship to jobs supported for the 2017-2018 technical college student cohort and institutional budget/operations (EMSI): Institution 2017-2018 Economic Impact Jobs Equivalency Flint Hills Technical College $13.9M 251 Manhattan Area Technical College $14.1M 310 North Central Kansas Technical College $30.7M 614 Northwest Kansas Technical College $16M 333 Salina Area Technical College $9.7M 245 Washburn Institute of Technology $15.9M 320 Wichita State University-Tech $280M 4,860 Total $380.3MILLION-Annually 6,933 Annually $380.3 million is equal to purchasing 2,055 new homes in Kansas each year, or 6,338 new Corvettes each year! The Kansas Technical Colleges provides this performance for their areas and the state of Kansas, while receiving less than 3% of the annual allocation to the state’s higher education sector, and without any local taxing authority. Imagine what we would do with some added investment…the added ROI would increase significantly. Kansas Technical Colleges & the State Operating Grant (Sources: KBOR 2020 Data Books) Total state appropriations to the Kansas Technical Colleges was $21,552,412, representing 31% of the total technical colleges’ revenue of $68,946,584. The state’s community colleges received $132,558,153 in state appropriations, but also received $264,503,443 from county and local appropriations due to their taxing authority. The data listed comes from the 2020 KBOR Data Books, based on most recently completed audits (2018): Sector State Appropriations County/Local Appropriations Tuition Revenues 19 Community Colleges $134,588,153 $264,503,443 $125,571,291 7 Technical Colleges $ 21,552,412 $ 502,211 $ 23,006,776 The 7 technical colleges have a gap of $28M in state support based on the average annual state appropriation provided for the community college sector ($21,552,412/7 = $3,078,916; $134,588,153/19 = $7,083,587). This does not take into account the county/local support for the community colleges, which makes the gap even larger. WSU-Tech and Flint Hills Tech receive an annual county appropriation (not from a taxing authority component). To bring the technical colleges to the level the state is supposed to provide (2/3 of the cost v. 1/3 by students—the

1200 SW 10th Avenue Topeka, Kansas 66604 www.KansasTechnicalColleges.org current reality is 2/3 by students and 1/3 by the state) the gap is $30M for the technical colleges from state appropriations. The Kansas Technical Colleges appreciate the support from the legislature for Excel in CTE and for tiered (technical) courses in the KBOR budget request. As you can see from the statistics above, the technical colleges have minimal support as compared to their return on investment. More than any other sector of higher education in the state, the technical colleges provide “boots on the ground” in terms of a skilled workforce for their regions and the state. For the most part, technical college students obtain good jobs and are employees, taxpayers, and CONSUMERS due to having low-to-no student debt. The most urgent need is for support for capital outlay to maintain facilities and upgrade equipment in technical programs. For facilities, please remember, technical colleges need basic facilities for labs and shops. The technical college sector has been the higher education component with enrollment growth and consistent performance and return on investment. Here are some recent examples of what our members are doing around the state: NWKTC Northwest Technical College opened a new welding center in Quinter, KS, supported by students from 5 area high schools and adult students. Funding was provided through a partnership with the Dane G. Hansen Foundation, Gove County Economic Development, and through state grants, and assistance from private business and industry. No institutional debt was incurred. This welding center and the one on the main campus are designated as Lincoln Electric Educational Partner School programs due to the relationship with Lincoln Electric and support from NC3. NCKTC North Central Kansas Technical College is partnering with DS bus lines and the local school district to perform maintenance on the fleet. The buses are less than 3 years old and give contemporary experience to students in Diesel Tech, costs are lower for the school district, and the bus company is providing scholarship funds for the college students. MATC Manhattan Area Technical College is doing welding courses for Flint Hills Job Corps, and discussions are in progress with that agency for more technical education courses and programs. Manhattan Tech has also taken over the auto technology program at Manhattan High School, with 64 students there now earning college credit in that program. Discussions are underway with the Manhattan USD Superintendent to design a career academy with MATC. A similar process is also underway with four school districts on the eastern side of MATC’s service area. The director of NBAF, the biosafety director of NBAF, along with 3 engineers of the facility toured the MATC Critical Environment Technology area a few weeks ago. Two of the engineers are MATC alumni from HVAC. MATC is working with the USDA and KSU (through the BRI) to help prepare engineering techs with critical environment technology, building automation technology, biosafety training, as well as biotechnology options.

In conclusion, Kansas Technical Colleges are driving skilled technical workforce education in the state, providing a rapid, direct return on investment as the vast majority of the students

1200 SW 10th Avenue Topeka, Kansas 66604 www.KansasTechnicalColleges.org remain in Kansas as employees, taxpayers, and consumers as they usually have no-to-low student debt. The technical colleges provide this performance without any local taxing authority. They also do this while receiving the least amount of higher education support from appropriations of ANY entity within education and higher education in the state. The Kansas Technical Colleges are only limited by the lack of assistance and investment to meet the ever- increasing demand for skilled technical workers. Thank you for your continued support and recognition of technical education and workforce development in Kansas. I would be happy to answer any questions you have.

1200 SW 10th Avenue Topeka, Kansas 66604 www.KansasTechnicalColleges.org