LOUISVILLE — Kentucky's private colleges are hoping to convince state officials they can improve higher education by sharing public funding.

        In a report obtained by the Courier-Journal, and being released today by the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities, the private schools say state officials should consider contracting with them to educate more Kentuckians.

        The report calls for increasing state financial aid to students attending private colleges and including private college officials on higher education policy-making bodies.

        Of 169,500 undergraduate students in Kentucky colleges and universities, 25,200 are enrolled at private colleges.

        Private college officials hope their report stimulates a discussion about the role their schools should play in a state goal adopted in 1998 of gradually adding 80,000 students to higher education enrollments, mostly at regional and community colleges, by 2020. Many of those students won't be in traditional four-year degree programs but will get short-term job skills training.

        The report is likely to stir debate about whether — and to what extent — it is appropriate for private universities to share in public higher education funding and policymaking. All of the state's private colleges except Sulli van University have religious affiliations, although some are only nominally tied to a denomination.

        “When these issues are put on the table, it almost always poses controversy,” said Tim McDonough, a spokesman for the American Council o Education.

        The idea of sending state dollars to private colleges — particularly when state colleges are faced with budget cuts — does not sit well with public college officials.

        “I think it's unrealistic to talk about funding private institutions in the state when there isn't enough money to adequately fund the public institutions,” said Barbara Burch, provost at Western Kentucky University.

        Constitutionally, direct state aid to private colleges is permissible unless the money is to be used for a religious purpose, said the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

        “If a school is pervasively religious so that you can't separate the mission, classes or activities from a certain religion, it's probably unconstitutional,” Rev. Lynn said.

        The report was commissioned by Rev. Lynn's organization, which represents 19 of the state's 20 private colleges, to offer ideas about how to integrate them into Kentucky's higher education fabric. Other states, including Tennessee and Illinois, have been successful in similar efforts, according to the report.

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