One hopes that both the decline in enrollment at Ashland Community and Technical College — and in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System as a whole — are just a temporary reversal in what had been an unbroken record of continual growth since the community and technical college system was created in 1998. As a state that already has a woefully low percentage of college graduates, Kentucky needs to be sending more students to college, not fewer.
While the causes of the enrollment decline may be varied, KCTCS officials — as well as local ACTC administrators — should be concerned about whether the drop in enrollment is an indication that more and more Kentucky students are finding college unaffordable. After all, tuition costs have soared at both the state’s universities and community and technical colleges in recent years, and while the two-year colleges still represent Kentucky’s best higher education bargain, the cost of attending one is still steep for families of modest means.
The community and technical colleges particularly appeal to “non-traditional students” — those who are older and often also have job and family obligations. With the cost of food, gasoline, utilities and just about everything else rapidly increasing, finding the money to attend college is getting more difficult. In addition to the tuition increases, it is costing community and technical college students more to make the daily commute to and from school, to purchase the outrageously priced textbooks and other classroom materials, to pay for child care and to meet many other school-related expenses.
While the final count is not official, enrollment for the fall semester at Ashland Community and Technical dropped by more than 200 from a year ago — 4,756 to 4,550. For the KCTC system, enrollment declined from 92,828 last September to 92,178 this year.
Enrollment has soared at the community and technical colleges since the approval of the higher education reform act that separated the community colleges from the University of Kentucky and merged them with the old vocational technical schools. Indeed, they enroll more than half the higher education students in the state.
That record of growth must continue. Kentucky lags well behind the rest of the nation in the percentage of college graduates, and this corner of Kentucky has fewer college educated adults than most of the rest of the state. If Kentucky fails to greatly increase its number of college graduates, it will not be able to compete with other states and countries for the good jobs of the future. A poorly educated adult workforce remains one of this state’s greatest obstacles to higher education.
That’s why we hope this fall’s decline in enrollment at its community and technical colleges is not the start of a new trend. This state must make it easier for more of its residents to attend college. Our future depends on it.
Editorials
Enrollment drops — 09/30/08
Kentucky need more students in higher education, not fewer
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Focus on music
There will be no new trophies for winning marching band competitions for the Boyd County High School band. Nor will band members be spending as many summer days in the hot sun in band camp and autumn Saturdays taking long bus drives to compete in band festivals in distant communities.
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Memorial Day
Unlike our other wars, the American people were never asked to sacrifice for the war in Iraq and the one still ongoing in Afghanistan. They have been wars fought by an all-voluntary military and by the “weekend soldiers” in the National Guard and in the Army, Navy and Air Force Reserve
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Still more cuts
If you believe the cuts mandated by the two-year state budget that will take effect July 1 will have little impact on services, consider this.
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Earmarks again?
Immediately, following the midterm elections of 2010 which saw Republicans regain control of the House of Representatives and capture seats in the U.S. Senate, Republican leaders in Congress announced they had heard the voice of the voters and vowed to cease using “earmarks,” the name given to appropriations slipped into bills by influential legislators without a vote.
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Best in the nation
It may surprise many readers that Newsweek’s “best high school in America” is located right here in Kentucky and is open to selected students throughout the state, but then the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green is hardly your typical high school. In fact, it would be impossible for even the best public high schools to emulate the amazing success of students at the Gatton Academy.
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After the vote
We offer today a few reflections on the messages voters sent in Tuesday’s primary election in Kentucky.
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A mild winter
As we approach the Memorial Day weekend, long hailed as the unofficial start of the summer vacation season, we pause to reflect upon the winter that wasn’t.
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Devices banned
Emergency breathing devices that tests have proven unreliable are being phased out under a directive issued by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. However, MSHA has given mine operators more than 18 months to remove all the air packs from underground mines.
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A free weekend
In an effort to promote increased recreational use of the two lakes in the Daniel Boone National Forest, the U.S. Forest Service will offer free fishing and boating during the first weekend in June.
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Ho-hum election
Psst! Want to know a secret? There’s a primary election Tuesday. And it’s right here in Kentucky! However, there has been so little interest in this election, that Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, the state’s top election official, is predicting that only betwixen 10 and 12 percent of the state’s eligible voters will take the time to go to the polls tomorrow.
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Focus on music
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