Since it was initiated in January of 2008, Project Graduation — a collaborative effort between the Council on Postsecondary Education and the state’s universities — has encouraged 203 former students to return to college and earn their four-year degrees.
While to some that may not seem like many students, any program that encourages state residents to earn their college degrees must be applauded in a state that has among the nation’s lowest percentage of adults with college degrees. Because these former students already are more than halfway toward earning a bachelor’s degree, they should be among the most successful students colleges recruit.
Bob King, president of the Council on Postsecondary Education, said the state universities offer incentives to encourage adults to re-enroll and then offer services to help them be successful once they return to college.
According to campus data collected by the Council on Postsecondary Education, Project Graduation during the spring semester enrolled 401 students who took a total of 2,609 credit hours and generated $730,000 in tuition revenue. During the past summer term, the campuses admitted 211 students who were taking 798 credit hours and generating $299,088 in tuition revenue.
Ten of Kentucky’s private colleges also participate in Project Graduation, but their enrollment numbers are not available.
“We are delighted that our campuses are paving the way for adult learners to return to college to complete their degrees,” said King. “It’s incredibly important to the adults, their families and children, and the state’s economic competitiveness.”
While the additional tuition revenue Project Graduation has helped generate for individual universities is important at a time when state money for higher education is extremely tight, the tuition income should be considered only an added benefit of the program. The greatest benefit is getting more college graduates in a state that critically needs to improve the education level of its adult population.
Our hope is that far more former college students will take advantage of Project Graduation to return to school and earn their degrees.
Editorials
Positive results — 11/03/09
Project Graduation is getting former students to re-enroll
- Editorials
-
-
Try again
It is time for Kentucky Speaker of the House Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, and Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, to cease playing political games and redraw district lines that are compact and are based far more on population changes during the first decade of this century than on partisan politics.
-
'Asset poor'
More than one in four Kentucky households are “asset poor,” meaning that they are living from paycheck to paycheck with little or no financial cushion to fall back on should they suddenly lose their jobs or have another emergency resulting in a temporary loss of or delcine in income.
-
Safer mines
The head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) says coal operators throughout the country are improving their operations and, as a result, mines are becoming safer. However, MSHA chief Joe Main said too many coal operators still “don’t get it” and are continuing to cut costs by ignoring safety. That’s why MSHA plans to continue targeting mines with a history of repeated violations for additional inspections.
-
Not far enough
For the past three sessions of the Kentucky General Assembly, bills that would raise the minimum dropout age from 16 to 18 have been approved by the Kentucky House of Representatives by wide bipartisan margins only to die in the Senate without even a vote.
Now the Senate Education Committee has unanimously approved a dropout bill hailed as an alternative to the House bill, but it does not go nearly far enough. It is a halfway measure that would have only a limited effect on preventing teenagers from quitting high school before graduation and virtually assuring themselves of lives on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder.
-
Not their job
The local government committee of the Kentucky House of Representatives has wisely killed a bill — dubbed “Cooper’s Law” — that would have allowed the family of the Lexington toddler with cerebral palsy to have a playhouse on their property despite a deed restriction that apparently prohibits such structures.
-
Keeping FADE
Despite an increase in cost to the department, Carter County Sheriff Casey Brammell told the Carter County Fiscal Court that his department will continue to be active in the FIVCO Area Development Drug Enforcement (FADE) Task Force — at least for now.
-
Needed changes
The soaring enrollment that Kentucky’s community and technical colleges have experienced in recent years could come to a sudden end — or at least be slowed — as about 5,500 students in the statewide system that includes Ashalnd Community and Technical College are expected to lose their financial aid under new rules being implemented by the federal government.
-
Released early
While it is disappointing that 75 of the 952 prisoners granted early release in January have violated the terms of their releases, the good news is that none of the former inmates have been charged with new felonies. That’s an early, but positive, indication that the nonviolent felons released before their sentences were up have been carefully selected and are among those least likely to return to a life of crime.
-
Obese children
Almost a decade after former Gov. Ernie Fletcher called childhood obesity an “epidemic” in Kentucky, a majority of Kentucky adults still think that there are too many overweight children in the state and they place the bulk of the blame squarely on the shoulders of their parents.
-
Retiring
Dr. Gregory Adkins has served as president of Ashland Community and Technical College during a period of rapid growth and substantial changes. Adkins announced last week that he will retire June 30 after almost 11 years as the head of the school that now is located not only just off 13th Street in Ashland but also is in EastPark more than 20 miles from the Ashland campus.
- More Editorials Headlines
-
Try again
Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout
Video of Ga. Man Who Killed Girl Released
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
Ga Girl Fights Off Kidnapper at Walmart
Nevada Highway Patrol, City Settle Beating Case
White House Attacks Romney on Birth Control
Homs Bombardment Continues, Global Outcry Grows
Mo. Teen Gets Life Sentence for Killing Girl, 9
Lower-hassle Screening to Be Tested at Airports
Raw Video: Dog Rescued From Icy Colo. Water
Helmet Camera Captures Calif. Fire Rescue
Worker Tells 911: Powell 'exploded the House'
Triple Win: Santorum Takes Minn., Mo., Colo.
Injured Marine Inspired by Homecoming
No Rape Charges Against Son of NYPD Commissioner
Egypt's Ruling Generals Play Risky Game With US
Former Komen Exec Defends Funding Cut
Skip the Coffee Cup and Inhale Your Caffeine Fix
Calif. Gay Marriage Ban Ruled Unconstitutional
Jury Selection for Ex-UVa Athlete Enters 2nd Day
