According to a new state report, Kentucky high school students are better prepared for college but many aren’t taking that next step.
Kentucky's higher education institutions are producing more degrees while the state legislature continues to cut their appropriations.
Despite some improvement, the Kentucky Council for Postsecondary Education continues to renew its request for restored funding. CPE President Bob King looks to use some of the data in the latest accountability report to support his request.
Chad Lampe speaks with him on Sounds Good.
The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education’s accountability report looks at statewide data from 2012 to 2013.
The numbers show 68.3 percent of those entering college are ready, with 54.1 of all high school graduates demonstrating preparedness. The CPE uses ACT scores as a benchmark. While those numbers are short of the planned target, they're up from the last report.
However, just over 55 percent of Kentucky high school graduates decide to attend college. That’s down from the previous report and shy of the 72% target.
CPE President Bob King says while he’s not yet sure of the exact cause, he thinks it has something to do with how people perceive the cost of higher education.
“Too many families read newspapers or hear reports and they hear the tuition’s going up and that’s the end of the discussion,” King said.
“The reality is there is significant financial aid available from the federal government, from the state government and from the institutions themselves, so that the sticker price that everybody hears about is only paid by a handful of our students.”
However, King added that the financial aid pool has seen cuts totaling some $80 million over the last two-year budget cycle. Going back to 2009, there have been over $150 million in cuts; additional expenses have made that number even larger.
The report also shows a widening gap between low and high-income students. King says he has looked to other college administrators around the country that have successfully dealt with what he calls the biggest issue facing the state’s universities.
“We’re bringing those people to Kentucky (…) I think the good news is that the campuses are confronting the challenge,” King said.
“They’re evaluating what they’re doing, they’re being honest about if a program or group of programs aren’t working, and replacing them with stuff that we think will work.”
King says while the report shows some overall improvements, the CPE and Kentucky universities have their work cut out for them.
He also says he hopes people realize the true value of a college degree beyond the cap and gown.
“If you’re a patient in a hospital, do you want a nurse who’s well educated and knows his and her business or do you want someone that has a ragtag set of experiences?
“But beyond that, the better educated people are, the healthier they are, the less dependent they are on welfare and other public benefits, the less like it is that they’ll be incarcerated. All of those are benefits to our larger community,” King said.
You can view the full report here.
