<p>From the COHE</p>
<p>"The lackluster housing market, in particular, has strained the budgets of about half the states, according to the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, which notes that the effects have been particularly harsh in California, Florida, and Nevada.</p>
<p>At the same time revenues are taking a hit, the costs of health-care programs like Medicaid, as well as other state programs, are escalating, further squeezing state finances. Faced with gaps, state officials are proposing reductions in appropriations for next year and considering midyear cuts in current budgets. Among the states considering midyear cuts are California, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, and Nevada, according to the state-colleges group.</p>
<p>As they face proposed cuts, higher-education officials in many states are fighting back. In Kentucky, for instance, leaders of the state's eight public universities, the community- and technical-college system, and the state association of private colleges sent a letter to their new governor, Steven L. Beshear, warning of dire consequences if the cuts he has asked them to plan for take effect.</p>
<p>The governor, a Democrat who campaigned last fall on a pledge to put college within reach of more Kentuckians, asked the state's institutions to outline how they would absorb a 15-percent cut in their budgets over the next two years, given that the state faces a budget gap of $430-million.</p>
<p>The higher-education officials told the governor his plan would cause "immeasurable damage," requiring them to cut academic programs, lay off faculty and staff members, and limit enrollment growth. The leaders also said such deep cuts would stall the state's progress toward reaching the goals of an aggressive reform plan Kentucky put in place a decade ago that seeks to raise the state's college-going rates sharply.</p>