While this fall’s decline in enrollment at the state’s community and technical colleges certainly is not a positive, there is some good news on the higher education front in Kentucky: The state-suppported universities and community and technical colleges awarded a record number of degrees and certificates during the 2007-2008 school year. Even more important, the 15,036 bachelor’s degres awarded not only is a new record but exceeds the goal established by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education.
With most of the state’s universities and community and technical colleges setting new enrollment records in recent years, awarding a record number of degrees and certificates should be expected. But in the past, too many Kentucky college students dropped out before earning a degree or even a certificate. The record number of degrees and certificates indicates that increased retention efforts launched by the universitis and colleges.
The number of college degrees awarded in Kentucky must continue to set records if the state is going to come close to achieving its goal of doubling its number of college graduates by 2020. The ambitious goal may not be possible to achieve, but at least the state is moving in the right direction. Indeed, the number of bachelor degrees awarded has increased by 26 percent from the 2000-2001 school year.
Editorials
Some good news — 09/30/08
Number of degrees sets record
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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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