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Equity Lens

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Equity Lens

Higher Education and Household Income Levels in Kentucky

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The quickest path to improving economic prospects is through higher education. Whether it is obtaining a higher education credential, a 2-year degree, or a 4-year degree, all the data supports increased economic outcomes for individuals with increased education. Education leads to greater economic opportunities and greater civic engagement; this is one of the findings in our Big Bold Future Report.

The Prichard Committee Postsecondary Affordability Working Group has identified some concerning trends regarding access higher education credentials:

  • People with less education have higher unemployment rates during this COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Tuition rates have steadily increased over the last decade at 2-year and 4-year public higher education institutions at a rate three times greater than median incomes have risen in Kentucky.
  • State financial support for 2-year and 4-year public institutions hasn’t kept up with the rising tuition costs.

Equity Lens

The trends of rising tuition have had a disproportionate impact on Black and Latino populations, as these students continue to be underrepresented at higher education institutions in Kentucky. The impact on economic opportunities for these populations is highlighted by the disparity in median incomes based on racial demographics.

These finding are especially concerning when you consider further findings from the Postsecondary Affordability Working Group:

  • Low-income students incur higher debt from attending postsecondary institutions than their counterparts.
  • Black students incur higher debt from attending postsecondary institutions than their counterparts.

The Council on Postsecondary Education released its Return-on-Investment Report in 2021. Nearly 53% of Kentuckians find themselves in the position of taking out loans to finance their higher education at a Kentucky public college or university in 2011. Median loan amounts range from over $8,000 for an Associate’s degree to over $25,000 for a Bachelor’s degree completed in four years, to over $30,000 for a Bachelor’s degree completed in 6 years.

What Can be Done?

According to a poll conducted for the Prichard Committee, 77% of respondents believed that postsecondary tuition is too high. Meanwhile, those same respondents believed in the increased outcomes that higher education provided:

  • 74% believed that a higher education credential prepared someone for a well-paying job in the current economy.
  • 84% believed that an associate degree prepared someone for a well-paying job in the current economy.
  • 86% believed that a 4-year degree prepared someone for a well-paying job in the current economy.

So, what needs to be done to ensure equitable access to affordable higher education? The Prichard Committee believes that Kentucky must create an affordability framework around postsecondary education. This framework must:

  • Define affordability goals.
  • Determine how to measure affordability.
  • Assess the current state of affordability.
  • Develop parameters for students’ share of the cost.

If Kentucky can create this framework, the benefits for all Kentuckians are immense. This framework for affordability will:

  • Align funding to postsecondary institutions, financial aid, and tuition.
  • Illustrate the impact of funding policies on all students.
  • Support strategic investment and policies to make postsecondary education more affordable, and.
  • Communicate expectations for the responsibilities of each stakeholder – the state, institutions, and students.

A Big Bold Future for all Kentuckians is possible through greater access to education. The barrier of affordability must be removed to ensure as many Kentuckians can follow this path as possible.

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Equity Lens

Equitable education is family engagement at its best!

“High-quality, equitable and inclusive education is the shared responsibility of families, schools, and communities. Powerful partnerships are achieved, when active champions for education honor and recognize the connection between families and schools, as a core strategy for improving student academic achievement.” – Kentucky Collaborative for Families and Schools

Closing academic achievement gaps in Kentucky will require a variety of strategies and a need to address multiple constituencies. Engaging in this work means remembering that families are partners in supporting the holistic growth of students.

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Equity Lens

COVID has most impacted our underserved students

The pandemic has had a monumental impact on all Kentuckians.

What students, teachers, and families had to endure, and what the state has been able to overcome to structure learning in these unprecedented times, is worth remembering. The best efforts of our teachers, students, and families to rise above the global pandemic to create meaningful learning opportunities must be acknowledged.

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Equity Lens

Early Childhood Education & Equity: A 60 Year Perspective

Nearly 60 years ago, Ned Breathitt, Kentucky’s 51st governor, addressed his fellow Kentuckians during the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the Summer of 1964. Gov. Breathitt made plain his vision for Kentucky’s future:

“Ours is the vision and ours is the growing reality of a great society in which the accidents of race and color, parentage and poverty, and location and geography will not be allowed to dim the light of human hope and to cripple the possibilities of human growth.”

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Equity Lens

Improving Equity in Higher Education

Simply put, education is the path to a larger life. This was a key insight of the Prichard Committee’s namesake, Ed Prichard, more than four decades ago. This sentiment rings just as true today. Over the decades, we have seen more Kentuckians graduating with 2-year and 4-year degrees, and as a result, the median household
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Equity Lens

Building Equity: A Call to Active Effort

Equity is something we build. In our schools, equity means getting figuring out what will keep each learner moving forward in the learning and figuring out how to provide whatever that is.

We’ve built some important capacity to meet some of those needs. For example:

Lunches arrive if a K-12 student’s family would have a hard time paying for the food that allows them to concentrate on class

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Equity Lens

Prichard to emphasize the meaning of and importance of equity in series of Thursday posts

In recent weeks and months, the word “equity” and the intention behind “equity” related work have been questioned. Because of this, the Prichard Committee is joining the refrain of leaders across the state who are working to dispel misinformation and to rightly connect the work of “equity” to achieving full “equality” for which we, and our Constitution, aspire.

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Equity Lens

School Transportation Funding: A Kentucky Equity Problem

Equity is about providing varied resources to respond to varied student needs, making sure all students have what they need to learn. Kentucky school transportation ought to be a great example. Instead, transportation is a major equity problem. Transportation can be fairly simple and inexpensive in compact independent districts many students live close to their schools and many can walk or take short rides. In contrast, rural students at the far ends of their counties need buses that travel much greater distances. Districts should have funding that varies in keeping with those differences.

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Equity Lens

The SEEK Formula is a Potent Equity Tool

The SEEK school funding formula makes a powerful contribution to Kentucky public education. SEEK (short for Support Education Excellence in Kentucky) is the primary way Kentucky funds public schools and a key way we build education equity that gives all students what they need to learn. For a detailed demonstration of how the formula works, check out the 2021 edition of our four-page “SEEK Explainer.”

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