He said he'll also push for an outcomes-based funding model that rewards Kentucky colleges for producing employable students.
James Comer would push for an outcomes-based funding model that rewards Kentucky colleges for producing employable students.
Occurrences
Evidence
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"He said he'll also push for an outcomes-based funding model that rewards Kentucky colleges for producing employable students."
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"As part of the 2016-2018 state budget, the Kentucky General Assembly created a Postsecondary Education Work Group... Based on the work group's recommendations, the legislature enacted two very similar funding models... The models for the public universities and KCTCS were phased in over three years, beginning in fiscal year 2018-19."
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KRS 164.092 establishes a comprehensive funding model for Kentucky public postsecondary education. It states the model aligns state postsecondary funding with policy goals including credentials leading to higher salaries and industry demand, and distributes funds based on student success, course completion, and operational support. The statute history says it was created by 2017 Ky. Acts ch. 52 and most recently amended effective April 14, 2026.
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Kentucky CPE says the performance funding model aligns funding for public postsecondary institutions with student success, course completion, operational support, and Kentucky's higher education and workforce goals. It also says the model rewards institutions for progressing and graduating students, producing credentials in high-demand fields, supporting transfer, and improving outcomes for target student groups. The page lists 2026 review materials for the Postsecondary Education Working Group.
Assessments
Kentucky did adopt and continues to operate an outcomes/performance-based funding model for public postsecondary education that rewards student success, credentials in high-demand fields, and workforce-aligned outcomes. However, Comer made this promise during his 2015 Kentucky gubernatorial campaign, was not elected governor, and the cited enactment came through the Kentucky General Assembly and related work group after that campaign without evidence that Comer sponsored, authored, or materially advanced it. The policy substance was achieved, but candidate-specific delivery is not shown, so partial credit is appropriate.
Kentucky did adopt an outcomes/performance-based postsecondary funding model beginning with the 2016-2018 state budget and phased implementation in fiscal year 2018-19, matching the policy outcome Comer advocated during his 2015 gubernatorial campaign. However, Comer did not win the governorship and the available evidence attributes the enacted model to the Kentucky General Assembly, a Postsecondary Education Work Group, and state higher-education officials rather than to Comer writing, sponsoring, or materially advancing the policy. Under the campaign and office context, this supports partial credit for the outcome occurring later, but not full delivery by Comer.