Higher education basics: 1997 reform and Chamber review

Kentucky's 1997 higher education reform legislation set a goal of reaching national average educational attainment by 2020, with strategies that included:

• Creating the Council on Postsecondary Education to develop and carry out a strategic agenda for reaching the 2020 goals.
  
• Taking a new approach to funding that includes investment and incentive funding program.
• Creating the Kentucky Community and Technical College System.
  
• Setting up the Strategic Committee for Postsecondary Education (SCOPE), to ensure sustained commitment from the General Assembly.

Ten years later, a Chamber of Commerce task force undertook a mighty study of postsecondary education, releasing their report in December 2007. The report, available here, provides important insight into the implementation and impact of our higher education efforts. This week, I'll be blogging a number of its key findings (in and out of watching the assessment bills, the stimulus rollout, and statewide headlines, of course).