Census: Kentucky gains
in education
State has top rise in percentage of
residents 25-34 with diplomas
Sept. 25, 2002
MCC enrollment increases
Madisonville Community College enrollment is up 6.2 percent, based on early
projections.
This fall’s enrollment is 3,338, compared to 3,144 in fall 2001. MCC’s enrollment in fall 2000 was 2,471, giving the college a 35 percent increase in enrollment in two academic years.
“Our increase in enrollment is a reflection of working with business and industry to provide the needed educational experiences for employees as well as working with public schools to increase the number of students going to college after graduation,” said Dr. Jan Muto, dean of academic affairs.
“The expansion of our ACE2 program in our service area has increased the number of students receiving their GED and taking advantage of their postsecondary education opportunities at MCC,” she said.
Colleges in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System are enrolling record numbers of students this fall.
Enrollment is up more than 5 percent over fall 2001 and up more than 45 percent since fall 1998, the new system’s first year.
KCTCS colleges recently reported to the state Council on Postsecondary Education fall 2002 enrollment of 66,370 full- and part-time students.
The preliminary figure includes some course sections that will open in the coming weeks. The fall 2002 unofficial enrollment represents an increase of 5.15 percent over fall 2001 final enrollment of 63,120.
Enrollment is certified on Nov. 1.
KCTCS President Michael B. McCall attributed the increases to a variety of factors, including enrollment of high school students, continued growth in distance learning and opening of new facilities.
“The Postsecondary Education Improvement Act of 1997, which created our system, assigned to KCTCS the responsibility to expand Kentuckians’ access to higher education,” McCall said. “Our colleges are doing exactly that, increasing enrollment by nearly half since KCTCS was established.”
KCTCS has opened new campus buildings in Shelbyville, Danville, Elizabethtown, Glasgow and Cynthiana since fall 2001. Nearly 10,000 students are taking KCTCS courses via distance learning this fall, up almost 90 percent from a year ago.
The expanding partnership among high schools, secondary technical schools and KCTCS colleges has led more than 7,000 high school students to earn KCTCS college credit, up 46 percent from last year.
September 25, 2002
Census: Kentucky gains in education
State has top rise in percentage of
residents 25-34 with diplomas
Kentucky's lackluster educational status is improving -- especially among young adults, according to a state analysis of census data released today.
The state still ranks among the nation's worst for the education level of residents 25 and older. But Kentucky saw the largest jump of any state between 1990 and 2000 in the percentage of residents aged 25-34 with high school diplomas, rising from 79 percent to 84 percent.
And for the first time, Kentucky surpassed the national average for the percentage of young adults holding high school diplomas, according to an analysis by the Kentucky State Data Center based on Census data available today for all 50 states.
''We're not moving to the head of the class, but if this continues, we'll no longer have to say 'Thank God for Mississippi,' '' said Ron Crouch, director of the data center.
Kentucky still leads only Mississippi in the overall education level of its residents 25 and older. But the state is making inroads, the data show.
Education leaders said the improvement comes in a vital age group -- one including residents who are most likely to attend college, who make up the young, incoming workforce, and among whom many are parents who influence school-aged children.
However, the number of residents aged 45-64 with high school diplomas still ranked 49th in the nation.
''This data suggests we've broken that tradition of Kentucky's lack of interest in education, and that's a marvelous step,'' said Bob Sexton, director of the statewide Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence. He did acknowledge, however, that the improvement was made possible because Kentucky lagged so far behind to begin with.
Crouch credited the results to Kentucky's education reforms and initiatives, economic factors and workforce-development efforts.
Having more educated young workers is crucial at a time when the overall workforce is expected to shrink, and key to attracting business and industry and filling jobs that increasingly demand more education, Crouch and business leaders said.
It's ''tremendous news'' and ''a positive for the economy of Kentucky in many ways,'' said Eileen Pickett, vice president of workforce services for Greater Louisville Inc. -- the Metro Chamber of Commerce.
''Always one of the top criteria of any company as they're looking at expanding or relocating is the ability to find talent,'' she said.
Although Kentucky ranked 30th of all states for residents 25-34 with graduate or professional degrees -- which Crouch called a good showing -- the percentage of residents with bachelor's degrees still ranked in the bottom five states.
But officials say they hope the rising number of young adults with degrees will translate into higher college enrollments and more graduates.
''I think it bodes well for higher education, which is the key to getting a skilled workforce in Kentucky,'' said Sue Hodges Moore, interim president of the Council on Postsecondary Education.
Jefferson County's high school completion rate of nearly 88 percent among young adults surpassed the state average of 84.2 percent, but the county made smaller gains than the state as a whole, Crouch said.
That's in part because of the county's larger minority and immigrant populations, Crouch said, which he said are more likely to come from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The analysis showed that educational progress occurred in many Southeastern states -- but Kentucky outpaced all of them -- while the West saw an educational decline.
A higher percentage of Kentucky 25- to 34-year-olds now have high school degrees than in 15 other states, including New York, California and a handful of Southwestern states. Crouch said those states are seeing an influx of immigrants, who he said are more likely to be less educated.
Kentucky's numbers don't come as a big surprise, said Regina Phillips, director of communications for Kentuckiana Works. College enrollments in Kentucky have seen strong growth recently, reflecting an increased emphasis on education, she said.
''Folks are starting to realize with all this information coming out about the labor market . . . that they're going to have to have something beyond a high school degree to be able to compete for jobs,'' she said.
Lisa Gross, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Department of Education, said it mirrors other indicators such as improving academic scores on nationally normalized tests. She said the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 should get some credit, along with a general push to improve education statewide.
Cheryl King, Kentucky's commissioner of adult education, said another factor is that the number of GED recipients has risen since 1990. The state now spends more than $30 million a year promoting and administering adult education. In the past four years alone, the number of people awarded a GED rose from 11,128 to 14,651, she said.
The analysis showed that Kentucky residents 25-34 in 1990 had a high school-graduation rate of 79 percent. That same group, now 35-44, have a graduation rate of 82 percent. He attributed that to continuing-education programs and educated residents moving into the state.
Allen D. Rose, secretary of the state's Cabinet for Workforce Development, said the figures are good news for economic development and the state's image.
Rose said he thinks the state's efforts to retrain workers or enhance their skill levels is reflected in the census numbers.
For the fiscal year that ended June 30, more than 86,400 people enrolled in adult-education classes, surpassing the state's goal of 75,000.
But officials cautioned that Kentucky can't relax its push for educational improvements. The state still faces a skills deficit, Phillips said. ''We've still got a lot of work to do.''
Staff writer Bill Wolfe contributed to this story.