Anna Shepherd

Yea, a declaration of war or rural and central Kentucky hospitals. Here’s why the @universityofky doesn’t need additional research metrics, parity weights, or tiering…or whatever BS y’all want to call it… in Kentucky’s performance funding formula. UK and @uofl already benefit from preferential weights under the existing formula. In FY 2026, the two research universities received 69.9% of performance funding distributions despite accounting for 53.4% of adjusted net general funds. On top of that, UK reported more than $502 million in research awards in FY 2026, including approximately $290 million from federal agencies and $126.7 million in state research grants and contracts. Those state awards are separate from performance funding. Federal research grants also reimburse universities for overhead expenses. UK’s federally negotiated rate is 54% of eligible direct research costs, helping cover utilities, facilities, administration, and other expenses associated with conducting research. In other words, UK receives funding to conduct research and additional reimbursement for the institutional costs associated with conducting it. UK HealthCare also receives additional Medicaid reimbursement through graduate medical education and indirect medical education programs. Those payments are separate from research grants and the university’s performance funding allocation. We’re talking about federal research grants, federal overhead reimbursements, state research awards, preferential performance funding weights, and additional Medicaid payments through UK HealthCare. How many different ways are Kentucky taxpayers supposed to subsidize the same institution before someone starts asking whether we’re double or triple dipping? Before adding another research metric, increasing weights, or creating special funding tiers, @CPENews, @KYHouseGOP and @KYSenateGOP should request UK to account for what it already receives? How much federal overhead reimbursement does UK collect? What expenses are already covered? What additional costs justify giving UK a larger share of funding intended to support Kentucky’s public universities? Students at @murraystateuniv , @eku , @wku , @moreheadstate , @KyStateU and @nkuedu shouldn’t count for less simply because they don’t attend UK wants to empire build and run up Medicaid premiums. Yet, Kentucky’s performance workgroup is in midst of a bs delay tactic to allow others to whip proposals that would give the research universities another advantage in a formula that already favors them. No welfare weights for UK. Enough is enough for #UKY If do support the welfare weights, you might as well be a DSA socialist.

Today in #LegalHistory: On October 29, 1969 The Supreme Court orders immediate school desegregation. Equality for all.

Sources: 1. Kentucky Administrative Regulation 13 KAR 2:120 — Performance Funding Formula apps.legislature.ky.gov/Law/…⁠ 2. University of Kentucky — Finance Presentation and Performance Funding Weights uky.edu/trustees/sites/www.u…⁠ 3. Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education — Performance Funding Review and Analysis cpe.ky.gov/ourwork/performan…⁠ 4. University of Kentucky — FY2026–27 State and Student Support Budget ubo.uky.edu/budget/state-and…⁠ 5. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — Approved State Directed Payments medicaid.gov/medicaid/manage…⁠ 6. University of Kentucky — FY2025 Audited Consolidated Financial Statements ufs.uky.edu/sites/default/fi…⁠

My Dearest Darlings, Ever wonder why #KYHigherEd’s comprehensive universities are struggling financially while UK and UofL continue collecting the lion’s share of performance funding? In part, the answer is Kentucky’s own funding formula. And the preferential treatment of UK and UofL extends well beyond that formula. Consider the advantages Kentucky has built into its higher education funding system: 1.) Bachelor’s degrees: UK and UofL receive approximately 1.67 times the performance weight awarded to comprehensive universities for degree production. 2.) Low-income graduates: A degree awarded to a low-income student at a research university receives approximately 2.35 times the weight of the same outcome at a comprehensive university. 3.)First-generation graduates: Research universities receive approximately 1.67 times the weight. 4.) STEM and health degrees: UK and UofL receive approximately 1.54 times the weight. 5.) Student progression: Research universities receive higher weights when students reach 30, 60, and 90 earned credit hours. 6.) Credit-hour production: The research-university sector receives additional weighting on earned credit hours, alongside the formula’s course-level and disciplinary adjustments. 7.) Enrollment: UK and UofL receive approximately 1.34 times the weight for full-time-equivalent enrollment. 8.) Campus facilities: Research universities receive approximately 1.36 times the weight for eligible building square footage. Kentucky rewards institutional infrastructure through a formula supposedly designed to improve educational performance. 9.) The small-school adjustment: Kentucky’s two largest public universities are included in an adjustment calculated from 10% of their individual historical funding bases. The six comprehensive universities instead divide an adjustment calculated from their combined base. 10.) Protected funding: The formula removes small-school adjustments and applicable hold-harmless amounts before distributing the remaining performance resources. Feeling greedy and guilty, @uofl, @UKYpres and @UKYmonday yet? 11.) Medicaid directed payments: UK and UofL’s qualifying academic medical providers participate in a separate Medicaid payment arrangement. CMS approved a 2026 program with a ceiling exceeding $2.3 billion across eligible university providers. 12.( Teaching-hospital reimbursements: Qualifying university teaching hospitals receive graduate medical education and related supplemental Medicaid payments unavailable to institutions without comparable hospital operations. 13.) Targeted appropriations: UK and UofL also receive separate state appropriations for designated medical, research, and institutional projects outside the ordinary performance funding distribution. Look at the results. According to UK’s own financial presentation, UK and UofL received 69.9% of FY2026 performance funding, compared with 30.1% for all six comprehensive universities combined. @CPENews September 2026 analysis found that eliminating sector-based weights would redirect approximately $46.1 million in existing performance funding to the comprehensive universities. That includes $13.05 million for @wku , $11.9 million for @eku , $9.75 million for @nkuedu , and $7.8 million for @murraystateuniv. Why does #Kentucky allow @universityofky and @uofl to double-dip…I mean Thirteen layers of preferential treatment… overlapping funding advantages while Kentucky’s comprehensive universities struggle to balance their budgets?

What’s the solution and ask? Equal treatment. Let #KYhigherED-all universities-compete and compare fairly with the same standards. Let #Kentucky see true success or where we fail. Nothing more. Nothing less. Equality for all #KYHigherEd