Eastern Kentucky University officials hope roughly $1 billion dollars in state investment across three programs will help grow the student body and ease some budget concerns.
The university has already secured some of the money for facilities and programs, EKU President David McFaddin said Thursday during an address at the Stratton Cafe on campus. But with the university budget short about $6 million this year, officials said they hope to attract more students to campus.
That $6 million deficit, which McFaddin described as a “pretty small percentage” of the overall $430 million budget, includes $2 million in tuition revenues and $4 million on health care.
“Every dollar is an opportunity to serve a student…to make an investment,” McFaddin said. “While it is not significant, it'll have an impact, but this is not the first time, and we are not the only university who's navigating downward pressures on revenues and upward increases on fixed costs.”
University officials hope three particular programs — osteopathic medicine, aviation and the Model Laboratory School — will draw interest, and therefore more tuition revenue in the coming years.
EKU plans to ask for $330 million from the General Assembly for its planned Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program. In the latest biennial state budget, the College of Medicine received $42 million for escrow for program accreditation and $8 million for startup costs.
“We'll be nearing probably a billion dollars of investment if we can secure that from the state,” McFaddin said of overall state investment in the school. “It's just been a transformational season for EKU, transformational in what we do to serve students, transformational in how it impacts our local community, our region, and the state.”
Meanwhile, the Model Laboratory School received $149.1 million for a new building across two legislative sessions. McFaddin described it as the largest single capital investment in EKU.
Another $11.1 million was appropriated from transportation funding to help prevent traffic jams at the new location off Lancaster Road in Richmond. The lab also receives $4.5 million annually from the state.
The legislature has also invested heavily in EKU’s aviation program, including $25 million for the Aviation Education Building. The new air traffic management program secured $5 million in startup funding in 2026 and will receive another $1.5 million annually.
Across the last three biennial state budget cycles, EKU has received about $128.5 million in asset preservation money.
“We are continuing to make those investments in steam line replacements and roof replacements and elevator replacements,” McFaddin said.
