Education Evolution

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^{Whether you want to complete general education courses or learn a trade, the Kentucky Community and Technical College System offers hundreds of majors at its more than 70 campuses across the state. With its low student/teacher ratio, affordable tuition and diverse classes, the system is a jewel in the crown of Kentucky’s higher education options.}

^{“KCTCS is the largest provider of higher education and workforce training in the state,” says Dr. Jay Box, president. “Forty percent of all undergraduate enrollment is in the community college system.”}

^{With more than 700 career-related programs, the system meets the needs of many Kentuckians. More than 150,000 students are enrolled, and not only are classes offered at brick-and-mortar locations, but KCTCS also boasts 15,000-plus online students.} 

^{Box says this statewide system was designed for better access to higher education. It has two paths to graduation: Go2Work and Go2Transfer.}  

^{The former offers students a road to a vocational-type job, where they can complete the coursework in a few semesters and start their career right away. These types of positions include dental hygienists, electricians, respiratory therapists and machinists. KCTCS also offers certificate programs in which students learn a skill and receive certification in it. Here, the student is not necessarily working toward a degree, but toward qualification for employment or a career promotion.} 

^{Box points to KCTCS’ role in workforce development. For example, the Kentucky Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education (FAME) is a partnership between area manufacturing companies and the system’s colleges, with the goal of producing highly qualified graduates and creating a continuous pool of technically skilled workers.} 

^{Students accepted into the program work toward an associate degree in applied science in industrial maintenance technology, attending classes two days per week and on-the-job training three days per week. Classes focus on technical and manufacturing skills and professional behaviors.}    

^{“We have the ability as a system to address the needs of business and industry in the state,” Box says. “We are able to quickly adjust our curriculum to meet their needs.”} 

^{Under the KCTCS transfer program, students who intend to obtain a bachelor’s degree can take general education courses at less than half the price of a four-year university. Students graduate with an associate degree in arts or science, and then transfer to complete their bachelor’s degree.} 

^{“In 2010, the faculties of all the public universities in the state came together to align their curriculums,” Box says. “The general education classes taken at KCTCS are guaranteed to transfer, without question.”}   

^{Within the 16 colleges across the state, students can take basic English, business, math and science classes; and technical courses like radiography, masonry, plumbing and automotive. Each campus also offers a large assortment of online classes that are available to any student, no matter which campus they call home.} 

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^{Several campuses offer courses or majors unique to their region of the state.} 

^{In Lexington, the “Horse Capital of the World,” the Bluegrass Community and Technical College is home to the North American Racing Academy. Students can enroll in the equine studies major, where they select the jockey path or the horseman path, both leading to a career in the horse-racing industry.} 

^{Now in its 10th year, it is the only two-year program of its kind in the United States. Students can choose a certificate program, which is about 32 credit hours, or an associate degree, which is about 60 hours. Both programs include classes in racehorse care, grooming and monitoring vital signs; and, of course, all students participate in mucking stalls.} 

^{Classes are held at the Thoroughbred Center in Lexington, where owners and trainers send their young horses to learn to become racehorses. BCTC owns 12 to 15 horses that reside at the center and are used in the curriculum, with students getting a hands-on education in racehorse care and training.}  

^{According to Remi Bellocq, executive director of the academy, these on-the-track horses give students the real-world experience they need.} 

^{“Our students learn not by theory, but by practice,” he says. “They get exactly the education and training they need for day one on the job.”} 

^{He says Lexington is the perfect location for such a school. “We are at ground zero, with our accessibility to farms and racetracks. Our students can do mentorships and internships and get jobs right here.} 

 ^{“The top trainers in the country will hire our students because they know the level of education [the students] get here,” Bellocq said.}

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^{Paducah, the location of the National Quilt Museum and the LowerTown Arts District, also is the site of the Paducah School of Art and Design, a division of the West Kentucky Community and Technical College. The college offers programs in drawing, painting, photography, fibers, visual communication and multimedia. Students can pursue certificates in a specific genre or an associate in fine arts or associate in applied science degree in visual communication/multimedia.}   

^{“Paducah School of Art and Design has been able to capitalize on new facilities and equipment to expand our ceramics program, launch new programs in jewelry and small metals, and establish fully equipped studios for metals and wood fabrication,” says Paul Aho, dean of the college. “With the opening of our 2D and Graphic Design Building in January 2016, we were also able to expand our Summer Master Artists Workshop program to embrace other media and disciplines, increase our public programing and continue to build a truly noteworthy exhibition program.”}

^{Paducah is a UNESCO Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art, and its LowerTown Arts District attracts artists from all over the country to live and work. Because of this, Aho says, the school offers unique opportunities for collaboration with local artists and UNESCO sister cities around the world.} 

^{Tucked in the mountains of eastern Kentucky, Hyden is home to the Kentucky School of Bluegrass and Traditional Music. This campus, a division of the Hazard Community and Technical College, offers classes in songwriting, recording and the music business, as well as performance classes in banjo, guitar, mandolin, bass, fiddle and vocals.}   

^{Now celebrating its 10th year, the school boasts students from all over Kentucky, the U.S. and 22 other countries.} 

^{“I believe we have the most broad-spectrum, two-year music program in the country,” says Dean Osborne, director of the college. “We give our students the opportunity to experience many areas of the music business. We know that not everyone is looking for a record deal.”}

^{Osborne says he and other faculty members have made their careers in the music industry.} 

^{“Most of us have been where that student wants to go,” he explains. “We can listen to their dreams and help them to find ways to get there.”} 

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^{KCTCS Beginnings}

^{Kentucky’s community college system got its start back in 1948, when the University of Kentucky’s Northern Extension Center was created in Covington. That school, which went on to become Northern Kentucky University, was the state’s first attempt at a regional campus of higher education.} 

^{In the 1950s, Ashland Junior College joined the program to become the Ashland Center of the University of Kentucky. With the success of these two campuses, the University of Kentucky Extension Centers in Fort Knox, Cumberland and Henderson quickly followed.}

^{In 1964, the schools became part of the University of Kentucky Community College System, and in 1999, the colleges were transitioned into the Kentucky Community and Technical College System.}

^{“With the 73 campuses throughout the state, we are within a 30-minute drive of 95 percent of all Kentucky residents,” KCTCS President Jay Box says. “Complement that with our online delivery, and we believe we are accessible to anyone in the state who wants to pursue higher education.”}     

^{Scholarship Opportunities}

^{New for fall 2017 are Work-Ready Kentucky Scholarships, which provide free tuition for up to 30 hours for Kentucky students who have not earned a degree. The scholarships are available for courses, certificates and degrees in the top five employment sectors in Kentucky:} 

^{• Health care}

^{• Manufacturing}

^{• Transportation/  logistics}

^{• Business services/  information technology}  

^{• Construction/trades} 

^{For more information, visit kheaa.com.}    

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^{The Kentucky Community College System}

 ^{•  Ashland Community and Technical College}

^{•  Big Sandy Community and Technical College}

^{•  Bluegrass Community and Technical College}

^{•  Elizabethtown Community and Technical College}

^{•  Gateway Community and Technical College}

^{•  Hazard Community and Technical College}

^{•  Henderson Community College}

^{•  Hopkinsville Community College}

^{•  Jefferson Community and Technical College}

^{•  Madisonville Community College}

^{•  Maysville Community and Technical College}

^{•  Owensboro Community and Technical College}

^{•  Somerset Community College}

^{•  Southcentral Kentucky Community and Technical College}

^{•  Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College}

^{•  West Kentucky Community and Technical College}