Education

More than 61,000 students are estimated to receive a degree or credential from one of Kentucky’s public and independent colleges and universities in 2013—slightly fewer than the year before, according to Kentucky's Council on Postsecondary Education. The CPE released its preliminary degrees report Thursday, you can find it here. Overall, public colleges and universities are expected to award fewer degrees this year than last, while the independent system will increase its awards. When averaged, this represents a less than one percent decrease in total degrees for all of Kentucky’s public and independent colleges and universities.  Read more...

Gov. Steve Beshear on Wednesday signed House Bill 207 that unites the state’s two Career and Technical Education (CTE) systems under the guidance of Kentucky’s Department of Education. The goal is to create a unified, more relevant and efficient system to educate and prepare students for the world of work in a real-life setting, according to a news release from the governor's office.

Officials at Kentucky’s public and independent colleges and universities estimate that they have conferred 61,472 degrees and credentials during the 2012‐13 academic year, with historic levels continuing at the associate, baccalaureate, master’s and professional practice doctoral levels. The Preliminary 2012-13 Degrees Report, issued today by the Council on Postsecondary Education, shows declines for research doctorates and in undergraduate and graduate certificates. A slight overall decrease of less than one percent is estimated for total degrees and credentials conferred this year since last year’s historic total.

Over the next few weeks, the state is offering free GED testing to eligible Kentucky residents . The GED Testing Service hasn’t updated the high school equivalency exam in nearly a decade. Beginning in January 2014, the new test will be more closely aligned with the common core standards many states have already adopted. The testing fee will also double to $120. Read more...

With fundraising having begun for the $3.6 million Casey County Education and Community Center in downtown Liberty, a local bank has stepped up in a big way. The board of directors at Casey County Bank presented Mayor Steve Sweeney and Casey County Judge-Executive Ronald Wright with a check for $100,000 on Tuesday at a ceremony at the bank. Construction is expected to start in the fall.  Read more...

More Kentucky students attend Indiana colleges and universities where they can get in-state tuition than the other way around. Kentucky and Indiana officials have announced that they're extending the agreement that allows students to pay in-state tuition at certain colleges and universities across the Ohio River. The extension was approved by the two states' higher education agencies as its expiration date approached this summer. Read more...

A loud snap echoed through a building at Western Kentucky University on Monday as another pair of leather reins finally split in two. Civil engineering professor Matt Dettman helped destroy numerous horse-racing reins as part of a project aimed at finding the weak points of those products. The testing could help set an industry standard for reins to better protect horses and their riders. Representatives of the Jockeys’ Guild, The Jockey Club and the National Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association gathered at WKU to watch a variety of reins being tested in an effort to help refine a standard. ”If they’re going to be instigating a new rein, they want to be comfortable with it,” Dettman said. To his knowledge, WKU is the only university doing this kind of testing, he said.  Read more...

The chairman of Youngstown State University’s board of trustees says the board wants Murray State University President Dr. Randy Dunn to start his new job on the Youngstown, Ohio campus as soon as possible. On Friday, the YSU trustees voted 8-0 to authorize the board's chair and vice chair to negotiate and execute an employment contract with Dunn to start as YSU’s next president. In an emailed statement Monday, Dunn said he and his wife, Dr. Ronda Dunn, hoped to get started at YSU in about two months. Read more...

Beginning his career in education at Harlan Independent Schools 22 years ago, Harlan High School Principal C.D. Morton was chosen as the district’s new superintendent by the Harlan Independent Board of Education at a special called meeting on Monday. After going into executive session per KRS 61.810 (1.f), the board returned with an unanimous decision to appoint Morton to a four-year term as superintendent.  Read more...

Among the hundreds of men and women who graduated over the weekend from Eastern Kentucky University, there were 90 veterans. That’s an all-time best for EKU’s department of Military and Veterans Affairs.  Director Al Back says many of those vets still want to serve their country.  “And our degree programs are service oriented.  And I think when they come out of the service, that’s what they are looking for.  I think that’s why Eastern has the large student population whether it be in police studies, criminal justice, homeland security or the fire science program, emergency medical science, nursing, and teaching.  They’re still wanting to serve their communities after they leave the service,” said Back.

The Youngstown State University Board of Trustees voted unanimously Friday to offer the position of president to Murray State University President Dr. Randy J. Dunn. The appointment is not final until contract terms can be reached. Dunn would replace Cynthia E. Anderson, who is retiring June 30 after three years as president and 34 years with the university.

A complex Clark County Public Schools facilities plan that calls for closing several outmoded schools and moving students to new locations continues to generate controversy six years after the school board approved it. Things came to a head last month, when a new majority on the Clark County Board of Education voted not to spend money to reconfigure two schools, a step intended to prepare for implementation of the facilities plan in the fall. State Education Commissioner Terry Holliday has called Clark school board representatives to meet with state education officials in Frankfort on Wednesday to talk about the impasse.

Twenty-five years ago, 15-year-old Quinton Higgins spent about a month in Kosair Children’s Hospital after suffering lung damage and second- and third-degree burns in the fiery Carrolton bus crash. Today, Higgins drives a Hardin County Schools bus. The differences between the bus he drives every school day and the repurposed 1977 Ford B-700 school bus he was in that night in 1988 are like “night and day,” Higgins said.

Many college graduates across Kentucky may be set on finding just the right job.  But,  they were reminded over the weekend of other priorities.  During commencement exercises Saturday evening at Eastern Kentucky University, First Lady Michelle Obama reminded graduates that providing ‘service’ to the community should be a priority after college.