The new release of an annual report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center shows encouraging numbers for Kentucky’s Colleges and Community Colleges.
Higher education officials in Kentucky are pleased as a report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center shows improvements in the state’s six year college completion rates.
The annual report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center examines how many students in Kentucky’s colleges complete a degree program in six years.
The results from this year’s report show that Kentucky is currently tied for second best in the nation when it comes to degree completion in six years. The report shows that the six year college completion rate has risen 1.1% since last year. On a national level, Kentucky is one of only five states to show gains of a percentage point or more.
Dr. Aaron Thompson, who works with the Kentucky Council of Post Secondary Education, spoke with WTVQ about improvements and challenges colleges have been facing, especially considering the COVID-19 pandemic. Thompson said, “That really is a dedication to the work of our campuses, to people in my office, to the work of the legislature and governor’s office to offer funding to us as a strategic investment.”
The report looked at community colleges across the country as well, and found that Kentucky was one of only four states that had an increase in completion rates at community colleges. The completion rate increased by 3% in Kentucky, the second highest in America.
Dr. Greg Feeney, who serves as the Provost for Bluegrass Community and Technical College, also talked to WTVQ about the report and the encouragement felt due to its results: “That means we will meet students wherever they are at,” he said.
Feeney also talked about things Bluegrass Community and Technical College is doing to make sure its students graduate with a degree, such as spotlight instruction, tutors for some classes, and a method the school calls “flags.” Of these flags, Feeney said, “That is where an instructor or advisor, if they’re working with a student and they see that they’re struggling in a particular category, and that can be emotional or academically related, it can be something in their personal life. They can what we call “raise the flag” in this data base that we have and then there’s a team that responds to those flags and reaches out to those students to help them through whatever that is.”
While the report is encouraging, Dr. Thompson said there is still much room for improvement for the state’s college system. “College enrollment is down simply because we don’t have enough students graduating from high school going to college. We’re at 47.9 percent. We’ve got work on getting those numbers up. We have to get more adult learners engaged with us,” he said.
Thompson noted that a reason the state is so focused on college completion rates is the positive impact it has on the community.
More information about the Kentucky Council of Post Secondary Education can be found on its website.
More information about Bluegrass Community and Technical College can be found at the school’s website.