FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - The combined number of undergraduate degrees and credentials awarded in Kentucky rose 3.5% in the 2018-2019 academic year, according to the state Council on Postsecondary Education.
The increase moved Kentucky closer to its educational attainment goals.
Nearly 47% of Kentucky adults now have a postsecondary credential, up from 42.5% in 2014, the council said in a recent report. That’s a 4.5 percentage point gain compared to a national 3 percentage point gain during the same time period.
Growth in yearly credentials conferred keeps Kentucky on track to meet CPE’s long-term effort for 60% of the working-age population to have earned a postsecondary degree or credential by 2030. Achieving that goal will position the state to accelerate job growth with a more skilled, productive workforce, the council said.
CPE President Aaron Thompson said rising attainment levels also will help shore up the state’s labor pool in the near term as it contends with the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 outbreak.
“Without question, this pandemic has created new and significant challenges, but the momentum is on our side, and I appreciate the hard work by campuses to move our state forward,” Thompson said.
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