By Estevan Chavez

Louisville hosted the 2005 Governor’s Conference for the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education. At the event held Sept. 18-19, the KCPE held a public meeting to discuss the affordability of Kentucky colleges and develop a five-year plan.

The meeting focused on five questions that the council had developed prior to the event: Are more Kentuckians ready for college? Is education affordable? Do more Kentuckians have degrees? Are graduates prepared for life and work in Kentucky? Are Kentucky’s people, communities and economy benefiting?

The council conducted a study over the past few years on college affordability and published its findings online at http://cpe.ky.gov.

The meeting gave attendants the chance to ask questions and hear the council members elaborate on the results.

According to the council’s findings, when the actual price of tuition is compared to incomes, Kentucky universities are affordable for most full-time students. The major concern is for independent students. Independent students are typically 24 years of age or older and do not receive as much state aid as dependent students.They pay a higher sticker price for their education. The end result is debt from loans to compensate for the lack of funding.

When considering affordability, the council looked at all Kentucky colleges. Higher- and lower-income families were compared to colleges within their income rate, which the council says is proof of equality in terms of access to education.

During the meeting, the council discussed the shared responsibility model as part of its five-year plan. The program would maintain open communication between the various institutions to create better-informed decisions on affordability.

“We have to make sure people in Kentucky understand what I consider to be a very challenging goal,” said Ronald Greenburg, the council chair.

University of Louisville President James Ramsey took the opportunity to inform the board of the significant achievements of funding and to summarize U of L’s plan for a better educational experience. He said that people need higher education more now than ever.

“Many manufacturing jobs have been lost to outsourcing,” Ramsey said.

Ramsey also said he wanted to develop a new “creative class” in technical jobs. He said that the strength of U of L lies in its research development.

Ramsey recognized that U of L is a different type of university than the University of Kentucky.

“We used to blame it on being a commuter school,” Ramsey said.

He emphasized that to be a contending research institution, the funding must be there and education must be accessible.

“The mandate given to us is to become a premier research university,” he said.

The plan is to involve U of L in its communities. The various education partnerships through the metro universities program have been the greatest source of improvement, he said. U of L will also work to recruit the best students to help improve the educational environment.

Another goal of the council is to keep those who graduate from Kentucky colleges in Kentucky. In the past, many of Kentucky’s best high school students have sought their education outside of the community.