Kentucky Legislature Rebuffs Plan to Add a State University

At least for the time being, the University of Pikeville has lost its bid to join Kentucky’s state-university system. Backers—including former Gov. Paul E. Patton, who is now president of the 1,100-student university—told the state legislature that such a move would make a college education available to more residents of the state’s beleaguered Appalachian counties, while opponents said it would further burden a system already hurting for money. Instead, the legislature is considering a bill that would offer grants to students at four private colleges, including Pikeville, so that attending any of the four would cost no more than attending a state institution.