State Auditor Crit Luallen: | Crit Luallen |
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(Frankfort - May 22, 2008)
Recent media coverage leading up to Kentucky’s presidential primary repeatedly focused on the state’s lack of educational attainment in analyzing how voters were expected to cast their ballots. Whether or not we agree with the conclusions drawn by political commentators, the extensive national coverage drove the point home that we are a chronically undereducated state, reinforcing an image that has historically hampered our economic progress.
Increasing educational attainment has long been Kentucky’s single most pressing challenge, a challenge made even more daunting by the transformation of the economy to one where quality jobs are knowledge-based jobs. Yet the recently passed state budget once again cut higher education, and, as a result, tuition has once again increased at levels that make obtaining a postsecondary degree increasingly unaffordable for Kentucky citizens. These tuition increases will further cripple our ability to meet the challenge of the historic Higher Education Reform Act of 1997 to add 389,000 new bachelor’s degree holders by 2020 to reach the national average. Last year, my office issued a report showing how tuition increased 66 percent in the prior four years at our public universities. And during that four-year timeframe, Kentucky saw a decline in full-time enrollment of Kentucky residents at its two-year and four-year institutions. At the time of our report, the Council on Postsecondary Education estimated that if Kentucky continued to perform at its current level, the state would fall short of its goal by more than 200,000 bachelor’s degree holders. The recently announced tuition increases will only add to this shortfall. My office has updated the numbers in our 2007 report, factoring in this year’s tuition increases and the new increases for the fall. We can now report that over the last six years, tuition has increased 96 percent for resident full-time undergraduates at our four-year universities. This is over five times the rate of inflation. And since the fall of 2004, total full-time undergraduate resident enrollment in the state’s two-year and four-year systems combined has decreased by 955 students. The 96 percent increase for Kentucky residents compares to a 77 percent tuition increase for out-of-state students over the last six years. And nonresident students have accounted for 59 percent of the full-time undergraduate enrollment growth since the fall of 2003. The key point of our audit report was the emphasis on full-time students, those most likely to move on to attain a bachelor’s degree. Most higher education reports focus on total head count and include every student even though they may only be taking a minimal number of hours. Kentucky has long-term challenges that require long-term solutions. We simply must improve educational attainment with a sustained commitment over time. A 2006 report by the Science and Technology Corporation says that if we continue the path we are on, it will take 154 years to reach the national average in per capita income. Yet we are actually retreating from our commitments in higher education reforms which would have changed that course. Kentucky’s policy makers must provide adequate funding to ensure that tuition is set at a level that makes postsecondary education accessible to all residents. More Kentuckians must have postsecondary degrees if we are to attract the jobs of the 21st Century and increase the quality of life for all our residents. |
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