Postsecondary Education in Kentucky: An Assessment. A Report to the Task Force on Postsecondary Education.

Overview & Synopsis

This report presents findings of a Kentucky state task force which studied the current status of Kentucky's postsecondary education system. Ten advisory groups across the state, comprised of postsecondary education stakeholders, developed position papers to identify critical issues and make recommendations. Individual chapters address the following issues: the importance of the state's postsecondary education system to its future; the barriers to achieving an efficient and coordinated system; and five goals for creating a comprehensive postsecondary education system. The task force did not offer specific recommendations for change but did urge reform of and strategic investment in the state's postsecondary education system. The report identifies five barriers to progress: (1) a structure to link all postsecondary education resources with a long-range strategy is lacking; (2) current funding mechanisms serve as disincentives for program efficiency and institutional cooperation; (3) postsecondary education lacks incentives for the attainment of quality and pursuit of excellence; (4) Kentucky seriously lags the nation and competitor states in research and development activity; and (5) the current system has no comprehensive strategy to maximize the use of existing and emerging technologies. (Contains 22 references.) (DB)