Panel to Hear University of Pikeville proposal

The House Education Committee is expected to consider a proposal next week to make the private University of Pikeville part of the state's higher education system.  House Speaker Greg Stumbo said Tuesday that the proposal remains alive and well, despite some county-level opposition to a plan to use revenue from the state's coal severance tax to fund it.  Former Governor Paul Patton, now president of the University of Pikeville, proposed turning the private school into a state university as a means to allow more Appalachian residents to go on to college.  State funding could lower tuition, making a college degree more affordable for people living in the mountains of eastern Kentucky.