A preponderance of evidence supports the conclusion that student financial aid is an effective means of promoting equal opportunity. According to the Executive Director of the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA), virtually all studies on the influence of state aid on college applicants' attendance decisions conclude that aid increases the probability that applicants will attend. Additionally, research on college applicants reveals that grants are more effective in promoting access for low income students. Student aid has also been shown to be effective in promoting persistence in pursuing a higher education. This chapter examines the role of Kentucky's education assistance programs and other factors in promoting interest and attendance in postsecondary education.

Students wanting to go to college have an array of financial assistance programs from which to choose. The Commission focused on two sources of aid that are available to students in low-income families: College Access Program Grants and Kentucky Tuition Grants.

This program helps financially needy undergraduate students to attend two- and four-year public and private colleges, proprietary schools, and publicly operated vocational-technical schools. Grants are given to students enrolled for at least six semester hours or half-time. Students applying for CAP Grants must demonstrate that their families are able to make only a limited contribution towards financing their education ($1500 or less). Kentucky appropriated approximately $17 million to the College Access Program for FY 96, while the federal government donated $800,000. The Executive Director testified that Congress will cease giving money to this program beginning next year.

According to KHEAA, most CAP recipients are in families with incomes of less than $10,000, and more than 75 percent have family incomes of less than $20,000. The number of eligible CAP grant applicants through September 7, 1995, totaled 42,707. Available funds of $20 million will enable KHEAA to award 57 percent of eligible applicants an average CAP grant of $823. Slightly more than 43 percent of eligible applicants will not receive a CAP grant due to lack of funds. To award all eligible applicants would require an additional $20 million. Note should be taken that these figures reflect only those students who file an application for student aid, and do not take into account students who may have been eligible but did not complete the form.

This program offers financial assistance to qualified students who wish to attend one of the state's independent, non-profit colleges. Kentucky Tuition Grants enable students to afford the higher cost of tuition at these institutions. State dollars are the only source of funding for this program. In 1994-95 there were 7,600 recipients and all grants totaled $8.3 million.

The ultimate goal would be to provide financial assistance to all eligible applicants. As an intermediate goal for the 1996-98 biennium, the Commission suggests funding sufficient to meet the financial needs of 75 percent of the expected applicants.

These federally-supported programs are available in universities, community colleges and adult education centers across Kentucky. They are targeted to disabled students and students whose parents did not attend college. Their purpose is to entice the students to seek higher education, and they provide financial and technical assistance in pursuit of this end. There are four types of Trio Programs: Talent Search, Upward Bound, Student Support Services, and Education Opportunity Centers.

This program seeks out youths and adults with potential for postsecondary education. It assists them as they work toward graduating from high school and encourages them to enroll in postsecondary programs. Talent Search also tries to persuade high school dropouts to return to school to earn a diploma, obtain a GED, and enter a postsecondary program. Those who participate receive help in completing the application process for financial aid and admission to college or vocational school. Counseling about academic, financial, and personal matters is also available.

This program offers high quality academic instruction, tutoring, and counseling for low-income high school students. Many of these students come from families in which the parents have not attended college. In addition to learning about the college application process and how to apply for student financial aid, many Upward Bound students also participate in a five- or six-week summer program on a college campus. Students become involved in an intensive study program emphasizing English, mathematics, science, reading, and writing, and are given examinations designed to pinpoint their strengths and weaknesses in these areas. Subsequently, they receive instruction tailored to these strengths and weaknesses. As with the Talent Search Program, students may receive counseling for their financial, social, and emotional needs.

These services are available to low-income, first-generation college students, and the physically disabled. Eligible students receive instruction and tutoring in reading, writing, study skills, mathematics, and other subjects. In addition, they are given academic, financial, and personal counseling (if needed), and receive help in obtaining student financial aid. Further, students may receive information about other educational opportunities such as graduate and professional programs and may obtain assistance in securing admission and financial aid for these programs.

These centers provide adults in low-income communities with information about high school, GED, postsecondary education programs, financial aid and career opportunities. EOC counselors also help with the preparation of college admissions and financial aid applications. Professional career counselors help interested adults select and apply to schools suited to their career interests, and help them to identify grants and loans for educational expenses.

The President of Morehead University testified that while higher education institutions in Kentucky operate the Trio Programs, the federal government provides the money. "If the federal government no longer provides funding for these types of programs or if block grants are instituted, the state ... will have to provide funding for these programs or they will just disappear."

The Council on Higher Education and KHEAA each conduct programs intended to promote awareness of higher education among high school students in general and African-American students in particular. This section briefly reviews the Governor's Minority Student College Preparation Program, operated by the Council, and three programs administered by KHEAA.

Begun in 1986 with funding from the General Assembly, the program is designed to make young African-American students aware of the benefits and values of college and to prepare them to be successful in college-level work. The program is aimed primarily at middle school students, and while it was designed to assist minority students, any student who wants to be helped may participate. In 1994-95, approximately 1,700 students were served through summer and weekend programming at seven universities and two community colleges.

This program is targeted to African Americans and other historically underrepresented groups. Essentially, African-American college students are employed during the summer and are responsible for delivering the message of HOPE to African-American students in kindergarten through 12th grade and their families. The summer employees share their own experiences, distribute KHEAA materials, emphasize the importance of higher education, and explain how financial aid can be obtained. Since HOPE began in 1993, over 13,800 people have been reached through direct contact, mailings, workshops, and other activities.

STEP is an early awareness program for Kentucky students in grades 8 through 12 and their parents. Each academic year, KHEAA sends postcards enclosed in letters to the parents of those students who are not participating in STEP, offering them the opportunity to request free financial aid information and planning materials for higher education. Upon return of the postcard, KHEAA sends the student a Success Through Education Planning publication (based on grade level) every year until he or she graduates from high school. Almost 70,000 packets and over 57,000 brochures were distributed in FY 95. More than 536,000 packets and brochures have been distributed since the program's inception in 1989.

While the amount of information distributed through the STEP Program is impressive, more could be accomplished with the help of all of the state's school districts. In order for KHEAA to mail the information, school districts have to provide the names and addresses of their students to KHEAA. Unfortunately, not all school districts participate in the program. Since the names and addresses received by KHEAA are considered to be confidential and are not shared with any other entity -- public or private -- and since the cost of transmitting the names and addresses, which are compiled for other purposes, is minimal, there does not seem to be any significant impediment to a school district's cooperation.

This program promotes higher education opportunities in areas of the state having low college-attendance rates and among students having one or more of the following family characteristics: low family income, a teenage mother at birth, or parents who did not graduate from high school. Kentucky ranks high in the number of families that fall in all three categories, and studies show a correlation between these family characteristics and school dropout rates. KHEAA provides financial aid and postsecondary planning information to this population and others having circumstances that may deter them from staying in school and pursuing a higher education.

In addition to Success Through Educational Planning mentioned previously, the KHEAA publishes a variety of brochures and booklets designed to inform students about college and financial aid. Perhaps the most important of these publications is Getting In: Your Guide to Higher Education which contains valuable information about admission to college, tuition costs, financial aid, and academic programs in Kentucky. Nearly 78,000 copies were distributed in FY 95 to high school seniors, high school juniors, local libraries, and various human service agencies.

Futures: Your Guide to Life after High School, published by the Council on Higher Education, is a comprehensive reference on early career exploration, postsecondary options, and financial aid. Aimed at middle school and high school students, the public is designed to assist students in planning for successful high school, postsecondary, military or work experiences. Futures is available from middle school and high school guidance counselors, school and public libraries, and programs serving students such as the Youth Resources Centers.

Despite these outreach activities, it remains difficult for the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority to fully inform some families about the option of higher education and the ways which families can pay for it. According to the Executive Director, "one of the most difficult problems is to get information to families who need it, in a format which they can understand, and in time to have an impact on the education decision that is made by the family."

The Commission believes that many low income students do not avail themselves of the opportunity to become informed about assistance in accessing postsecondary education. Traditional means of disseminating the information, i.e., through school counselors, etc., do not seem to be reaching an acceptable percentage of the target population. A peer-to-peer approach, utilizing people from the local community or neighborhood, who often donate their services, has been highly successful in other areas where credibility and approachability were key to the dissemination of information.

The Skills-Mismatch Phenomenon

One popular criticism of postsecondary education and vocational programs in Kentucky concerns the "skills-mismatch phenomenon." According to proponents of this view, these programs prepare citizens for jobs that bear little logical relation to the skills which these persons possess or prepare them for jobs that simply do not exist. The Commission noted a distinct sense of frustration evidenced by a number of public assistance recipients in regard to the appropriateness of vocational training available in their communities.

The Commission sought, but was unable to find, statistical evidence that supported the skills-mismatch phenomenon but eventually concluded that it does have some validity, and might, in part, explain the failure of high school graduates to view a vocational education as an acceptable alternative to higher education. Consequently, members concluded that education officials in charge of determining course offerings or postsecondary vocational education training programs need to do a better job of taking into account the needs of Kentucky's business and industry (on the community level) when developing their course offerings.

The Commission became aware of the manner in which some people view students in vocational education and vocational-technical education in particular. Officials from the Department of Education and Workforce Development Cabinet testified that they have tried to integrate academic and vocational education in an effort to counteract the negative perception of the latter. After examining this matter, the Commission determined that another method for combating this negative perception lies in altering the "non-degree" status of programs administered by the Workforce Development Cabinet. Kentucky law stipulates that the Department for Technical Education (within Workforce Development) operate "non-degree" programs in Kentucky's technical school system.

Since students who participate in these programs do not receive technical degrees for their efforts, society may not afford them the same respect as students with academic degrees. Allowing the Department for Technical Education to grant technical degrees similar to those offered by community colleges may possibly remove the stigma attached to vocational education. By changing the status of "diplomas" in selected vocational-technical programs to "degrees," the Commission believes that society may be more likely to respect this type of education.

Furthermore, the Commission feels that such a change may possibly enhance the ability of vocational-technical students to compete in the job market. Based on their own experiences, Commission members noted that the hiring patterns of business and industry in Kentucky are consistent with the negative social view of vocational education. In other words, potential employers seem to be more willing to hire someone with an academic degree for an entry-level position, rather than someone with a "certificate-of-completion" or "diploma" from a vocational-technical school. If vocational-technical programs are elevated to the status of "degree" programs, then possibly this problem can be eliminated.

One of the most basic barriers encountered by the Commission to provide a higher education in Kentucky, is the lack of recognition and crediting work done at the vocational school level toward attainment of an associate or bachelors degree from a community college or four-year institution of higher education. The Commission failed to identify any systematic program for automatically crediting vocational school work, or, as an alternative, providing the vocational school student the opportunity to test for proficiency in appropriate subject areas.

The General Assembly passed legislation in 1992 creating the Interagency Commission on Education and Job Training Coordination which consists of senior policymakers from various state agencies concerned with education. Still in existence, this commission is responsible for developing programs that ensure "... maximum flexibility for students transferring from one school or college to another."

The Interagency Commission has properly identified its mission as the development of a process of "articulation" or "... (the) process for coordinating the linking of two or more educational systems to help students make a smooth transition from secondary to postsecondary education and among postsecondary schools without experiencing delays, duplication of courses or loss of credit."

Unfortunately, and in spite of a task force created for this purpose, the Interagency Commission has not implemented any articulation agreement on a statewide basis. A nagging, but less serious problem which, presumably, the Interagency Commission would be expected to solve is the transfer of credits between community colleges and four-year institutions and among colleges or universities. The Commission on Poverty was told that the community colleges and universities around the state, perhaps out of frustration, have taken up this task, and are developing a statewide transfer policy that will ease the transition.