Kansas' regents chief presses for restored education funding

(AP) — Restoring state funding for higher education is a structural way to keep college costs down for students, the head of Kansas' governing board of education said after a community college announced plans to develop a degree costing just $15,000.

Flanders watched Friday as Brownback announced that Cowley County Community College in Arkansas City had accepted his challenge to try to try to develop a program culminating in a $15,000 four-year degree.

[...] state lawmakers still have to appropriate scholarship funding, and Fort Hays State hasn't yet set tuition rates.

While applauding Cowley County Community College's initiative, House Minority Leader Jim Ward, a Wichita Democrat, said Kansas needs to fund higher education.