An academic leader at WKU says the school--and other universities in the state--must find ways to reach out to those who have given up on higher education.
WKU Provost Gordon Emslie says there are many adults in Kentucky who dropped out of college before getting their degrees. He believes that despite the rising cost of tuition, many of those dropouts could be encouraged to give school another try.
"I think people recognize the value of a college degree in this economy,” Emslie told WKU Public Radio. "I think we're finding employers are actually willing to pick up some of the cost of that, so that they'll have a more highly education workforce."
Emslie says he's like to see WKU emulate the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, which offers online classes that can be started at any point in the year that suits a student's schedule.
"KCTCS offers courses on demand, where students can enroll and take a course on their schedule, not necessarily starting on a traditional semester start and stop date...possibly offering courses in a modular format, so students can complete things on their schedule."
Emslie addressed the issue during a recent Board of Regents meeting at WKU. At that same meeting, faculty regent Patti Minter spoke out against the $850,000 contract the Board approved for WKU football coach Bobby Petrino.
Minter described the contract, and the school's increased spending on athletics in general, as "very, very troubling."
