About 600 students and teachers filled nearly every level of the state capitol with their pleas for lawmakers.

“We’re afraid with budget cuts and everything,” said Somerset Community College student Karen Brassfield.

“I don’t have a job…going to school to better myself…and to set an example for my children,” she said.

Brassfield is among the many worried about state cuts threatening education.

“If they raise up the tuition….no way to come to school,” she said.

Others cited the convenience of attending a small college in or near their hometowns.

“If they cut the budget….then we don’t have as many teachers, and have to get bigger classes, that’s why I went to KCTCS in the first place,” said student Stephen Miller.

Many want to see HB 160 passed, which would make it easier to transfer college credits.

“We’ve got great universities across our state, we need to make sure you attend our institutions, you transfer seamlessly without any difficulities,” Dr. Michael McCall, the KCTCS President, told the crowd with packed the rotunda.