"Leafing through the morning newspaper, articles about campus safety upgrades and residence halls without air conditioning at the University of Kentucky caught my eye. Okay, I thought about the latter, I've had a seat at the budget table before and know that non-critical issues wait in line as funding limits bring about difficult choices. But then my husband wondered aloud whether the football facilities lack air conditioning, too. Turning more pages, a glance at the sports section showed yet another article mentioning the high cost of the new home purchased by UK's incoming basketball coach.
On this particular morning, my antennae may have been on special alert, as it was the day of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce's Postsecondary Education Task Force public forum in Lexington. This was the last stop on a statewide listening tour, and the forum was planned to solicit thoughts from community members about how Kentucky's reforms are faring since they were passed ten years ago. Have they been effective? What more needs to be done? Are the state's priorities appropriately placed? The 1997 reforms were implemented because of a decline in traditional economic sectors in Kentucky; per capita income in our state was trailing the nation's average, and there was a clear link to our population's low level of educational attainment. Within our state and beyond our boundaries, higher income averages appear where the number of baccalaureate degree holders is higher. How, then, to use education to change the quality of life for Kentuckians?
Ames McGuinness, a consultant from the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS), opened the forum without any sugarcoating. He presented statistics showing that despite a wide range of strong efforts, per capita income in Kentucky has remained flat for the last 10 years. Our state's diligent and creative efforts have been considered a model worth emulating by others. Despite these initiatives, he said, "Kentucky is running hard and standing still" relative to the nation and the world. Per capita income approaches the national average in metropolitan areas in Kentucky, yet our rural residents are earning about two-thirds of the national average. Kentucky trails national averages, in fact, in all education pipeline measures: percentage of students graduating from high school (in this measure, sadly, Kentucky is in the bottom quintile); percentage of students entering college directly upon high school graduation; and percentage of students completing four-year baccalaureate degrees. Kentucky lags far behind U.S. norms in the latter category, although the Bluegrass region provides an exception with a baccalaureate attainment rate approaching the U.S. average. In high school completion, however, Fayette County falls behind: our high school graduation rate is 68 percent vs. 71 percent statewide.
On the other hand, Kentucky is on par with the national average for percentage of students earning associate's degrees and ahead of the national average for students completing certificates at two-year institutions. This is a good turn for a culture one forum participant described as education-averse, a culture in which some parents say about education, "I didn't have it and you don't need it," and in which some employers discourage continuing education because they don't want to encourage employee mobility. When a Kentucky student does choose to pursue higher education, it is nearly always a regional event: 90 percent remain close at hand. As Dennis Jones, another NCHEMS consultant, said about this college choice statistic, "If it's not real nearby, they go to the one that's got the best roads to it."
Good roads to education are important, both literally and figuratively. If the energy at the forum was an accurate indication, business and education leaders are enormously committed to moving this state's populace forward on those roads — and with it, the economy. Businesses based in our region are more likely to grow and thrive if greater numbers of well-educated citizens are available for employment. If our population cannot meet workforce needs, businesses will have to consider whether they are in the right location or consider outsourcing tasks to other areas. Today's students will not only compete against other Kentuckians for employment opportunities; given today's flat world (with a nod to Tom Friedman), they must be able to compete nationally and internationally. If the post-secondary education reforms succeed in the next ten years in feeding a great many more students through the pipeline to higher education, Kentucky may prove to be a tiger — a true wildcat — in the global economy. In the near term, we must find ways to help our students and their parents understand the urgency at hand. In terms of priority for funding and attention, don't you think this belongs at the top of the list? Air-conditioned residence halls would be nice, but they'll be of no benefit if we don't produce enough students to live in them.
Jane S. Shropshire guides students and families through the college search process, drawing on over a decade of college admission experience. Send questions or suggestions to JShrop@att.net, or visit Shropshire Educational Consulting, LLC at www.ShropEd.net.