A New Postsecondary Funding Model – A Positive Step for Future Investments, but Details and Transparency Matter

| by Perry Papka, Senior Policy Director |

The Kentucky State Senate this week passed Senate Bill 153, sponsored by Senator David Givens, establishing a new, comprehensive funding model for Kentucky’s public postsecondary education institutions.  The legislation is an outgrowth of recommendations made in December of last year by the Postsecondary Education Working Group and would tie a significant portion of state support for both 2-year and 4-year institutions to performance metrics.

What could this new approach mean for future investment?

Properly structured and adequately funded, a new comprehensive funding model represents an opportunity to move toward a more transparent and accountable system of postsecondary education – better ensuring that Kentuckians have access to affordable, high-quality postsecondary education.

This approach can be a positive step to help close persistent attainment gaps and be a vehicle to support additional investments in postsecondary education – investments that are undoubtedly necessary to reach the state’s educational goals. 

This can also be the first step Kentucky needs to more effectively link decisions and policies on state appropriations, student aid, and tuition to better define the expectations of institutions and students.  Lack of transparency in how postsecondary education is financed, and how the varying financial components interact, ultimately leads to less effective and efficient use of public resources and makes it more challenging for Kentuckians to reach their educational, economic, workforce, and civic potential.

What does Senate Bill 153 actually do?

Calls for renewed accountability for the state’s investment in postsecondary education are not new. Over the last three budget cycles, the Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) has proposed some level of performance funding for institutions based on either achievement toward targets and goals or shares of degrees produced. All of these proposals applied only to new funding requests, and with budget reductions of 18.2% since 2008 – equivalent to $197 million – none of these proposals were adopted by the General Assembly.

The current state budget initiated the process to create a new, comprehensive funding model that would include performance metrics. As part of that process, the Postsecondary Education Working Group - comprised of institutional presidents, the Governor, and legislative leadership - provided formula recommendations for the new model on December 1, 2016 after meeting five times throughout the latter half of 2016.  The budget included a powerful incentive for this group to reach consensus - in 2018, 5% of funding ($43 million) must be allocated through the new model.  (The Prichard Committee provided feedback to the working group during the development of the funding model.)

 
Senate Bill 153 essentially codifies the recommendations of the Postsecondary Education Working Group, which all institutional presidents endorsed.  A new, comprehensive funding model would ultimately distribute 100% of allocable resources to postsecondary institutions via three major categories: 30% for campus operations, 35% based on student credit hours earned, and 35% based on student success outcomes represented by a set of performance metrics.  You can download our complete summary of the legislation for easy reference.

Can Senate Bill 153 be improved?

As with any legislation, details and transparency matter.  While Senate Bill 153 overall represents a positive step forward, certain elements would benefit from greater consideration and would provide CPE and postsecondary institutions clearer guiderails to follow during implementation:

• Weighting for Priority Populations - Additional weight for underrepresented student populations is critical to close the state’s attainment gaps and reach statewide attainment goals.  The working group’s recommendations would weight STEM-H degrees more heavily than priority populations for the 4-year institutions. Given the state’s need to close attainment gaps between diverse population groups, priority populations should be weighted equal to or higher relative to types of degree fields.
• Fields of Study Definition - STEM-H (science, technology, engineering, math, and health) degrees need appropriate classification and definition to align with the state’s employment and educational needs.  Helpful would be a STEM-H definition establishing the process by which degree fields are classified, and that also includes STEM educators in primary and secondary education to align with high demand for qualified K-12 teachers. 
• Implementation and Review of Comprehensive Funding Model -The formal review process established in the bill is critical to guard against unintended consequences, foster engagement, and ensure transparency.  To fully achieve these goals, the working group should be inclusive of other stakeholders such as students, business and civic leaders, and other public policy experts - including representation from the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA) and the Kentucky Center for Education and Workforce Statistics (KCEWS).
• Transparency of Funding Model and Data  - To broaden public understanding and stakeholder engagement, the funding model and its data elements should be made publicly available by a date certain annually on CPE’s web-site – including definition and funding levels of non-formula mandated programs, specific formula adjustments related to cost and level and type of degrees and credentials, STEM-H degree field classifications and justification for inclusion, and data with regard to enrollment and distribution of priority populations.  This same level of public reporting should apply to any report and recommendations made by the working group every three years.
• Ambitious Statewide Goals - CPE’s target in the 2016-2021 Strategic Agenda of increasing Kentucky’s educational attainment to 58% by 2025 is laudable and inclusion by reference of the attainment goal adopted in the strategic agenda would enhance the funding model’s link to statewide goals.
• Respect for Institutional Missions – Given the unique missions assigned to institutions by the 1997 Postsecondary Education Improvement Act, concerns remain about unintended consequences related to how the research and comprehensive sectors are treated relative to one another – particularly with regard to affordability to students and families.  Guidance to the permanent working group to evaluate every 3 years should include - at a minimum – the effect of the model on key principles, including:
• Access – Ensuring educational opportunities remain inclusive of all Kentucky students.
• Affordability – Affordability is not explicitly addressed in the funding model, yet is a significant barrier for many students.  Understanding the impact of the new model on tuition, as well as state and institutional financial aid is critical to more adequately link the financial components of postsecondary education.
• Quality – Assessing quality presents significant challenges, but the review process should begin to consider potential measures - such as student learning and engagement – on which a future framework can be built.

(Learn more about performance-based funding in our report from the symposium we hosted in June of 2016 in partnership with the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce - Performance & Outcomes-Based Funding: Lessons for Accountable Investment for Postsecondary Progress in Kentucky.)

The Pursuit of Excellence: Principles to Guide Kentucky's Future Postsecondary Success

The Prichard Committee today released a report outlining the the key elements of the Committee's work in postsecondary education going forward, as well as establishing guiding principles for ensuring Kentucky reaches its education, economic, workforce, and civic potential.

The full report can be found via the Committee's web-site here, The Pursuit of Excellence: Principles to Guide Kentucky's Future Postsecondary Success. 

Below is the full text of the Prichard Committee's statement released today:

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Providing a framework for a productive discussion on the future of postsecondary education in Kentucky is the goal of a series of guiding principles developed by the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence.

“The Pursuit of Excellence: Principles to Guide Kentucky’s Future Postsecondary Success” provides a focus for the committee’s return to an area of advocacy that served as its foundation in the early 1980s.

The citizens’ organization was known at the time as the Prichard Committee on Higher Education in Kentucky’s Future. Its 1981 report, In Pursuit of Excellence, noted that “despite a tendency of people to become pessimistic about the value of institutions, (they) still look to education as the road to a better life and as the source of information and talent needed to solve problems.”

That remains true today as Kentucky faces issues of access, affordability, accountability and the relative value of achieving success through postsecondary education, the committee said.

In encouraging parents, students, business and community leaders, institutions and policymakers to participate in a discussion to ensure Kentucky builds and maintains an educated citizenry and a talented workforce, the Prichard Committee issued guiding principles that focus on access, affordability and quality:

• Access – High-quality postsecondary educational opportunities in Kentucky should be inclusive of all students, and Kentucky should ensure that all students are prepared for, have knowledge of, and are encouraged to pursue opportunities through postsecondary education pathways.
• Affordability – High-quality postsecondary education in Kentucky should be affordable to all students who want to benefit from and pursue such opportunities.
• Quality - To ensure the highest quality postsecondary education system and student outcomes, Kentucky should focus resources on and measure institutional performance in improving the lives of students and the public at large.

“In the current fiscal and political climate, investments in postsecondary education – both funding and strategies to achieve public goals – must remain a public policy priority,” the committee concluded. “Abundant research and the reality of the lives of countless Kentuckians make clear that greater educational attainment does, indeed, represent the path to a larger life for individuals and the state as a whole.”

“The Prichard Committee has focused on increasing the quality of P-12 education for more than 30 years. With more students than ever becoming ready for college and career, it’s critical to ensure our entire education system presents a seamless web of opportunity for all Kentuckians,” said Brigitte Blom Ramsey, executive director of the Prichard Committee.  “Renewing focus on access to affordable, high-quality postsecondary education will support efforts to ensure Kentucky has an educated citizenry and talented workforce.”

Postsecondary Funding - A Mixed Bag for Kentucky

Lawmakers in Frankfort concluded the 2016 Regular Session of the General Assembly in a flurry of activity during the waning hours of Friday April 15.  Putting aside the on-going legal dispute over current year cuts to postsecondary institutions and any potential vetoes the Governor might still make, the impacts of the enacted FY 2016-2018 budget on postsecondary education were a mixed bag.

On the one hand, most campuses received a 4.5% reduction, one-half of the 9% originally proposed by both the Governor and the Senate.  This amounts to a total reduction of $59.1 million over the biennium and represents an 18.2% decline in yearly funding since FY 2008, or $197 million.  Kentucky State University, in recognition of significant challenges facing the campus, was exempted from the funding reductions and received long-sought additional funds to fully match the federal requirement for land-grant programs.  Additionally, Western Kentucky University and Northern Kentucky University received additional appropriations in FY 2018 to help bring their state allocation per student to the average of the other regional campuses.  Overall, the enacted budget continues the pattern of state disinvestment in Kentucky’s postsecondary institutions that has persisted since 2008. A disinvestment whose costs are ultimately born by students and families.

On the other hand, student financial aid fared substantially better in the final compromise - increasing across all programs by $117.9 million over the biennium.  Need-based aid through the lottery-funded College Access Program (CAP) and Kentucky Tuition Grant (KTG) increased by $55 million – which could serve up to 30,000 more financially disadvantaged students.  This represents significant increases to the main need-based programs that have been flat funded for nearly 10 years. Two new programs were created to help increase college access and attainment.  The Work Ready Kentucky Scholarship received $25.3 million over the biennium and would provide essentially free tuition to recent high school graduates enrolled in associate’s degree programs at Kentucky community colleges, public universities and private colleges.  The Dual Credit Scholarship received $15 million over the biennium and will assist eligible high school students in paying for courses for which college and high school credit is awarded.

The budget also initiates the process by which postsecondary institutions will receive part of their funding based on performance against certain metrics.  Beginning in FY 2018, 5% of funding will be performance-based, rising to 15% in FY 2019 and 25% in FY 2020 and beyond.  A working group is established that will provide formula recommendations for the performance-based model to the Governor and General Assembly by December 1, 2016.  While in the early stages and not yet defined, this should be the first step in a process of recognizing that public investment will require accountability for progress toward well-defined system, institutional, and student outcomes and performance goals.

As the title of this post suggests – a mixed bag - perhaps one step backward and one step forward.  Issues of affordability and ensuring access to postsecondary opportunities for all Kentuckians’ make further reductions to institutional funding difficult to stomach.  A renewed commitment to state-funded financial aid programs, however, signals hope that perhaps progress is possible.

In the future, Kentucky needs to more effectively link decisions and policies on state appropriations, student aid and tuition to better define the expectations of institutions and students.  Lack of transparency in how postsecondary education is financed, and how the varying financial components interact, ultimately leads to less effective and efficient use of public resources and makes it more challenging for Kentuckians to reach their educational, economic, workforce, and civic potential.

Financial Aid and Lottery Dollars in the Governor's Budget Proposal

| By Susan Perkins Weston | 

The Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA) will be able to offer almost $251 million in FY 2017 financial aid if Governor Bevin's budget proposal become law. 

Here's a breakdown for the programs included in the KHEAA budget, with yellow shading for cuts and green shading for increases and a new workforce training and development program.

Counting the workforce proposal as a lottery funded effort, this plan honors the state law that calls for nearly all lottery dollars to flow to postsecondary education. 

However, that also means overriding the legal provision calling for the College Access Program and the Tuition Grant Program to receive 55 percent of those dollars.  Those two needs-based programs will receive $35 million less than promised in statute, with those dollars moved to the workforce initiative and to KEES scholarships awarded based on grades and test scores.  The chart below shows the available dollars and compares the statutory approach to the one the Governor proposes.

 

Source note: The dollar figures above reflect the 2016-18 Executive Budget released by the Office of State Budget Director.  KRS 154A.130 sets the rules for allocating lottery proceeds, with $3 million annually committed to literacy development and the rest divided between 45 percent to KEES and 55 percent to CAP and Tuition Grants.

Beneficial Returns to Public Investment in All Levels of Education (UK Research)

| by Perry Papka, Senior Policy Director |

Recent research published by the Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) at the University of Kentucky highlights that public investment in all levels of education – early childhood, K-12, and postsecondary - yields significant beneficial returns to both students and society.  This information provides important data supporting continued strategic investment across the spectrum of the state’s public education system.

Early Childhood – Returns $5 for every $1 invested

Cost-benefit analyses conducted by the CBER in 2009 estimated that investment by Kentucky in expanded early childhood education would yield a return of $5 in public and private benefits for every $1 of public investment. The research also noted additional benefits beyond the financial return-on-investment such as: reduced need for special education, higher rates of educational attainment, reduction in health costs, reduction in the incidence of crime, and less demand for social welfare services.

With only 50% of Kentucky's children arriving in kindergarten ready for early success (see Figure 3 below), greater effort is needed to ensure that all children are given the opportunity to succeed.  CBER’s research reinforces the fact that investments in high quality early childhood education and care programs for at-risk children is not only a solution for reducing achievement gaps and improving academic performance, but pays long-term dividends to society as a whole.  
 

Source: Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence. Progress and Next Steps for Early Childhood in Kentucky: Birth through Third Grade (January 2016)

K-12 – Kentucky Schools Perform Better than Expected Given Challenges Faced

Earlier this month, CBER released a new issue brief highlighting Kentucky’s progress in education over the last 25 years. The research shows that across twelve broad measures of educational attainment and achievement, Kentucky ranks the same or higher than 34 other states and lower than only 15 – a far cry from very near the bottom in 1990. 

Moreover, while acknowledging that work remains to reach the achievement goals Kentucky has set for students and schools, the data shows that Kentucky is one of only eight states (see map in Figure 2 below) whose academic performance – as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) – for every $1,000 in per pupil investment is better than to be expected given other obstacles students face such as poor health, poverty, disabilities or parents with low educational attainment. 

The bottom line is that Kentucky’s schools are cost-effective in providing a strong return-on-investment given significant demographic challenges facing many Kentucky communities. 

Source: Childress, Michael. Kentucky’s Educational Performance & Points of Leverage (January 2016) Center for Business and Economic Research, University of Kentucky.



Postsecondary – Higher Education has Significant Pay-Off for Individuals and the State
In October of 2015, CBER released a series of seven issue briefs highlighting the dynamic effects of educational attainment on Kentucky’s economy. Noting concern that Kentucky’s postsecondary educational attainment is lower than the national average, the research examined the effects raising attainment levels to the national average across seven key outcomes: income/earnings, employment, state income taxes, Medicaid costs and participation, health, crime, and participation in the federal SSI and SNAP programs. 

Not surprisingly, the analysis found that greater educational attainment leads not only to better employment outcomes, higher earnings and more tax revenue, but also lower crime, less chronic disease, and lower demand for public service programs. While these positive outcomes might have been expected in the state’s urban centers, the research showed similar effects to education across rural regions of the Commonwealth as well (see figure 1 below).

Source: Bollinger, Chris. Education Pays Everywhere! (September 2015) Center for Business and Economic Research, University of Kentucky.



CBER’s findings also estimate that raising Kentucky’s educational attainment level to the national average would generate $903 million annually in new tax revenue and cost savings.  Specifically, the state would realize approximately $500 million in additional income tax receipts, $200 million in Medicaid cost savings, $200 million in other healthcare cost savings, and $3 million in crime-related cost savings. 

Conclusion

Kentucky’s long-term success in continuing progress in student achievement, ensuring a dynamic, talented workforce, and developing thriving communities will be made stronger through increased investment that recognizes our educational system as a seamless web of opportunity for all citizens. The recent findings by the University of Kentucky’s Center for Business and Economic Research reinforce this notion and offer important reminders that the smart money is on public investment in a high-quality educational system – from early childhood through postsecondary – which is certain to yield significant returns to the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

KCTCS: Enrollment receding, but maybe not degrees?

It's easy to see the Great Recession in this chart of KCTCS enrollment. There was some rapid growth in the years when jobs were especially hard to find (and federal supports made added learning easier to afford), but a noticeable decline as the economy has recovered.

That enrollment decline makes it especially interesting to see associate degrees still climbing as of last year.  Since students who started in 2011 could be expected to finish in 2013 or 2014, 2015 may be our year to see a drop off.  Even so, the deeper education benefits of those degrees will last for decades, providing a rare silver lining to the difficult economy of the recent past.

 

Source: the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education's data portal, looking under student enrollment and under retention and graduation rates.

.

College graduations rising (with some wobbles)

As shown in the charts below, Kentucky public postsecondary graduation rates have mostly been rising, though slowly and with some slips backward, both at the associate and the bachelor levels, over the eleven years currently covered by the Chronicle's College Completion site.  For associates, 2012 was the best year on record, with a drop of in 2013. For bachelor degrees, 2013 was the strongest result shown. (One caution: these numbers include only students who started as full-time students and stayed at one institution for their whole careers.)

University Graduation Trends (Disaggregated!)

The College Completion web project (spotlighted in yesterday's post) also lets us see more clearly what's changing for students from different backgrounds.

In the charts below, Kentucky public higher education has a clear upward trend in bachelor's degree graduation rates overall and for Asian and white students, with weaker and bumpier results for black, Hispanic, and American Indian students. 

More exactly, these are the rates for students who started school full-time and did not transfer out after that. For example, the 2013 rates are for students who enrolled full-time during 2007-08 year and earned degrees by 2012-13 from the school where they started their college work.

The caveat about enrolling full-time and not transferring does matter a good bit. The 2013 results above reflect 7,826 bachelor degrees going to students who started full time and stayed at the same, institution but the Council on Postsecondary Education reports that 16,568 bachelor degrees were awarded in the 2012-13 school year. That means that the data above tells about half the bachelor graduation story. It's not a complete account of what's happening in Kentucky's efforts to increase bachelor's degree attainment, but it is the part of the story that can be told with the data currently available for public analysis.

(Hat tip to the Student Voice Team for finding the College Completion site while researching its new Tripwire report!)

College Completion Maps (Bachelor and Associate Degrees)

The College Completion web project (developed by the Chronicle of Higher Education) offers  great detail for all states, with graphics into the bargain.

For example, the site shows vividly that Kentucky's 2013 graduation rate for four-year public institutions is lower than many states, shown by the pink rather than green shading of our state.

On the other hand, our two-year public institutions are doing better than quite a few states, as shown by the shading in light green.

 

There is a caveat on both maps: they show graduation in 150% of expected time by students who enroll full-time and never transfer.   That full-time, stay-at-one-school information is what each institution reports out, so that's what the maps are able to show.

The 2013 results above reflect 7,826 bachelor degrees going to those students who started full time and continued at the same institution.  However, Kentucky's Council on Postsecondary Education reports that 16,568 bachelor degrees were awarded in the 2012-13 school year.  For the associate map, the results reflect 2,370 degrees to the full-time, stay-put cohort, but CPE reports 9,713 associate degrees earned in 2012-13. 

That means the maps above tell about half the bachelor story and about a quarter of the associate situation. They're not complete accounts of what's happening in Kentucky public postsecondary completion, but they are the part of the story that can be told with the available public data.

(Hat tip to the Student Voice Team for finding the College Completion site while researching its new Tripwire report!)

College impact even for students with weak scores

Can a large number of students with low admissions scores really complete four year degrees and reap the economic benefits of college completion? The New York Times is spotlighting two recent studies that suggest that, in fact, they can.

Using SAT data,  the studies tracked students who reached an 840 admission cutoff score for their states' universities, and also tracked those who narrowly missed the cutoff.   (Because the studies looked at outcomes over a long period, the original SAT scores used the 0-1600 scale in place when the participants were in high school.)

One study, based in Georgia, fund that roughly half the students who reached the cut  score earned bachelor's degrees within six years, compared to 17% of those who missed.  That's a clear indication that many students with marginal scores can, in fact, complete their degrees.

The other, focused on Florida students, found an average earnings difference of 20% between the two groups.  The Times qootes one of the authors of that study as saying, “If you give these students a shot, they’re ready to succeed,”

For those who make or influence policy, this sort of evidence can be a reminder to use test scores with caution and in combination with other evidence of academic capacity, commitment to work, and tenacity in confronting challenges.   Taken alone, the assessments can miss or underestimate quite a lot of human potential to persevere and succeed.

Higher Education Looking Stronger (Much Stronger)

The chart above made my jaw drop.

For years, I've been blogging the reported graduation rates for Kentucky higher education for years.   I've cited figures like a 52% six-year graduation for full-time, first time students who entered Murray State in 2005, and a 37% six-year rate for full-time, first-time students who entered Northern Kentucky University that year.  For associates degrees statewide, I've displayed a 32% three-year graduation rate for students who started full-time study in 2006, and reported that as better than most states' results for that time frame.

Just eyeballing the graph above, you can tell it suggests something much better.  Doing the arithmetic, we had 2009 graduates equal to 85% of our 2005 freshmen, and 2014 graduates equal to 88% of our 2010 freshmen.

How can the results be so different?  The big reason is probably that the reported graduation rates for each school count only the ones who start and finish at the same institution, while this method looks at the whole system, so that transferring and graduating counts as much as staying put and graduating.  Even knowing that transfers weren't accounted for, I never imagined that the impact could be on this scale.

The starting and entering numbers shown above also aren't perfect matches.  Here are some of the limits on the comparisons shown above:

• Many of the 2014 bachelors degrees probably to students who started before 2010, and a bunch of the 2014 associates were earned by students who started in 2011 or 2012--but over the long run, that's more about timing than about whether students end up with a degree in hand.
• Some students may earn very few credits their first year, and end up being counted as freshmen more than once--but that would make the number of students who start working toward a degree smaller, so that the number who earn degrees would be more impressive.
• Some of the graduates may have transferred in from out-of-state. Depending on whether more students transfer in than transfer out, those transfers  could help or hurt the overall picture.
• Some may have transferred from private institutions--and I do have anecdotal evidence that the flow of transfers does move toward the public sector and make the total graduations look stronger.
• Some students who earn bachelors degrees earn associates degrees first, so they're counted in two different years--and each double degree means someone else who didn't finish at all.
• Some students earn two degrees at the associates level or the bachelors level, and they'll also be counted more than once and offset some who don't make it to graduation at all.

Even with all of those factors, the chart above suggests that Kentucky's public institutions are graduating something like 80% of the students they enroll. That's good news that's very different than the graduation rates I've shared in past posts on higher education.

(Matt Reed's post on "Dropouts, Grads, and Terrible Counting" pushed me to do this comparison of the big numbers, and I'm grateful for the nudge.  The numbers in the chart come from the Council on Postsecondary Education's reporting on enrollment and degrees.)

--Posted by Susan Perkins Weston

Learning at Higher Levels: Active Learning Raises College Results, Closes Gaps

Here's a great New York Times report on how "Active Role in Class Helps Black and First-Generation College Students":

The trend away from classes based on reading and listening passively to lectures, and toward a more active role for students, has its most profound effects on black students and those whose parents did not go to college, a new study of college students shows.

 Active learning raised average test scores more than 3 percentage points, and significantly reduced the number of students who failed the exams, the study found. The score increase was doubled, to more than 6 percentage points, for black students and first-generation college students.

For black students, that gain cut in half their score gap with white students. It eliminated the gap between first-generation students and other students.

As summarized by Richard Pérez-Peña, the study looked at students in introductory Biology classes at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and compared classes taught using traditional lectures and others using methods that "demanded more participation by students," including on-line exercises to complete before and after class.

This sort of finding will be no surprise to fans of the Gates Foundation's math and literacy investments or the K-12 research behind those strategies.  Deep learning comes from wrestling knowledge hands on, in a productive struggle that lets each learner assemble a clear picture of how the content fits together and the skills can be combined to solve problems.  Lectures, even brilliant ones, rarely engage students at the level that creates strong understanding.

--Posted By Susan Perkins Weston

Reaching Top 20 Will Require Hard Push for Kentucky Improvement

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Moving Kentucky into the top tier of states in key areas of education by 2020 will require a hard push for improvement in the next six years, according to a new report from the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence.

The 2014 update of the Committee’s “Top 20 by 2020” found Kentucky’s performance in six categories to be on track to reach the goal. These include reading scores, Advanced Placement credits and teacher salaries.

But other indicators show reason for concern. The report noted that Kentucky lost ground in the math achievement of eighth-grade students and the share of higher education costs that families must pay. The state’s performance also showed no net improvement in total higher education funding or bachelor’s degrees earned in science, technology, engineering and math.

The state’s ranking in other areas showed some improvement, but not at a rate sufficient to reach the Top 20 by 2020. These include the number of adults with a high school diploma, preschool enrollment, per-pupil funding and adults with a bachelor’s degree.

The Prichard Committee began its Top 20 measurements in 2008, when it issued a challenge to the state to accelerate the improvement of its education system. The latest report is the third update of the initial measurement. The update is available here.

Education Commissioner Terry Holliday applauded the report for highlighting Kentucky’s progress in areas like reading, Advanced Placement and teacher salaries, and for also providing a clear roadmap of the areas that need further attention going forward.

“We are proud of the progress Kentucky students and educators have made the past several years as they have embraced more rigorous standards and become more focused on college- and career-readiness,” Holliday said. “At the same time, the report confirms what we already know:  there is still much work to be done. We need to be making faster gains in key content areas like mathematics and science while also continuing to close achievement gaps so that all students have the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in life. We are committed to making continuous progress, and are grateful for partners like the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence for joining us in this critical work.”

Bob King, president of the Council on Postsecondary Education, noted the state’s increase in bachelor’s degrees, from 44th to 39th in the last six years, and expressed the importance of partnerships to work toward the Prichard Committee’s 2020 goal. 

“The steady improvement in bachelor degrees or higher and adults with a high school diploma is welcome news to Kentucky’s economic future. We look forward to working alongside Prichard and our other partners to make even greater gains in the future.”

The update also noted the Committee’s three overarching priorities for Kentucky education:
·         A strong accountability system that measures the performance of students, teachers, principals and postsecondary graduates;
·         Adequate funding;
·         Sustained and expanded engagement of parents, community members and businesses in support of schools.

“It is great to see the areas where we are making good progress but we still have a lot of work to do. We will continue to monitor these areas and look forward to evidence of more forward progress in the 2016 report,” said Stu Silberman, executive director of the Prichard Committee.

--Prichard Commitee Press Release

for September 3, 2014 publication

Study results, adjust instruction: Improving western Kentucky nursing education

Check out a great National Public Radio story: Western Kentucky Community and Technical College figured out that the Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology was a major barrier for many students who want nursing careers--and didn't accept that result.

Instead, WKCTC analyzed the problem and looked for instructional solutions:

"You're not taking this class as just an elective," Dean Karen Hlinka says. "You're taking this class as building the foundation for the rest of your education. So you've got to get it."

Hlinka realized that a lot of her students just weren't ready. They knew how to memorize, but they didn't really know how to think. So the school set up a special class, which teaches just the first six weeks of a whole semester. It began integrating how to read the textbook into class lectures, instead of just what's in the textbook.

With the new approach, WKCTC is reporting passing rates 20 percentage points better than the national average, giving clear evidence of success with an impressive improvement to teaching and learning.  

Added tip: for the fullest excitement, I recommend listening to the broadcast version: I think it's more detailed and energetic than the website text!

--Posted by Susan Perkins Weston

Low-income access: KCTCS

As a group, the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) institutions enroll substantial numbers of students who qualify for federal Pell grants based on family income.  In the graph below, it's clear that the schools of Eastern Kentucky serve some of the highest proportions, but all of these schools have higher Pell rates than any public university except Kentucky State.

The average net price at these schools is also relatively for low-income students, with only one four-year school offering a better rate.

Both sets of numbers are for beginning students, as are those in yesterday's post showing similar data for the universities, and all results come from the College Navigator site.

Low-income access to four year colleges: two notes [Revised]

In two charts, it's clear that Kentucky public four-year institutions vary dramatically how they engage low-income students. Revision note: both charts reflect data for beginning students at each university.  That fact was omitted in the original post

First, Pell grants are the leading federal support to help students afford college, and Pell participation is the easiest way to gauge a university's low-income enrollment (much the way free-and-reduced-price meal eligibility is the quickest indicator for K-12 education).  On this indicator, notice the huge sweeping change from Kentucky State's 75% to UK's much smaller 25%.

Second, net price is an important measure of accessibility, indicating the average amount students pay after all financial aid is subtracted from a university's sticker price.  On that indicator, Northern Kentucky University clearly looks most accessible, charging less than half of what Kentucky State and Western ask from low-income students.

This data and much more is available at the great College Navigator site.

Tomorrow, I'll share a matching look at these two indicators for KCTCS.

Success in the First Year of College Suggests Likely Degree Completion

Prichard Committee Statement

KY Center for Education and Workforce Statistics Releases

2014 Kentucky Postsecondary Feedback Reports

The postsecondary feedback reports recently released by the Kentucky Center for Education and Workforce Statistics (KCEWS) show employment and earnings for graduates of Kentucky’s eight (8) public four-year universities. They also show similar information for students who start college but leave without completing a degree.

The feedback reports provide data for parents and students to make informed decisions about their courses of study given the likely wage and employment opportunities in Kentucky. The report shows that a full 80 percent of Kentucky’s graduates stay in Kentucky to work and live. For these students, and those who plan to stay in a particular region of the state, this is very helpful information. For example, in general graduates with more education make higher salaries, but a deeper look shows graduates with associate degrees from three Kentucky universities (EKU, KSU, NKU) make significantly more than their peers with bachelor degrees and nearly as much as individuals with graduate degrees. 

The Prichard Committee is especially pleased to see a focus on the data related to students who drop out of college. The feedback reports provide good information about students who start college but choose to leave without finishing a degree. In 2013, roughly 10 percent (8,833) of the total enrollment in Kentucky’s 4-year public universities left college and did not transfer to another institution. One year later, their average salary was less than $15,000 a year. Gender does not seem to be a determinate for “leavers” with males and females leaving about equally. However, the data in the report does suggest that these college students were either ill-equipped academically or lacked the dispositions needed to persist in higher-education. Nearly 70 percent of “leavers” left college with less than 30 credit hours earned (the equivalent of one year of college) and more than half (58%) had a GPA lower than a 2.0. 

As we persist in Kentucky to balance an Unbridled Learning Accountability Model that ensures College- and Career Readiness for ALL, policymakers need to be mindful that readiness implies success at the next level.  As we increase the number of students “ready” we need to also ensure that those students have the skills, dispositions and supports they need to persist in their first year of college and beyond. The data show that students completing their first year of college are much more likely to complete their degree. College and career counseling at the high school level and retention efforts at the postsecondary level are both important strategies to help students achieve their potential.

The 2014 Postsecondary Feedback Reports by Institution can be found at: http://kcews.ky.gov  

Private College Return on Investment

Gary S. Cox, President of the Association of Independent KY Colleges and Universities talks about the return on investment from private colleges.

An ebb in higher education enrollment

FiveThirtyEight is spotlighting a decline in the percent of high school graduates going directly on to higher education, from 70% in 2009 to 66% for 2013, leading me to wonder about the Kentucky pattern.  As far as I can tell, the Bureau of Labor Statistics isn't publishing state-level reports like the one used by FiveThirtyEight, but I did find Council on Postsecondary Education data on a related issue: total undergraduate enrollment.  As graphed above, our in-state pattern includes:

• A 4% increase in public university undergraduate enrollment since 2010
• A 15% decline in Kentucky Community and Technical College System enrollment over those years
• A 5% decline in total undergraduate enrollment combining the four-year and two-year schools

Both 538 and CPE reason that the peak years of the recession saw a peak in students choosing college and the economic recovery is likely to mean that some high school graduates choose to focus on employment immediately after graduation.

Our Shared Commitment to World Class Education

Our Shared Commitment to World Class Education   

Mary John O'Hair, dean of the University of Kentucky College of Education, writes about how school-university-community partnerships play a role in innovations in P-20 education.

http://bit.ly/1czwElf