Novel Idea for Kentucky: Education & Economic Growth
Terri Whitehouse September 5th, 2007
Dan Klepal, in today’s Courier-Journal reports on gubernatorial candidate Steve Beshear’s plan to create economic growth and educational attainment within Kentucky:
“My goal is to double the number of degree-holders by the year 2020,” Beshear said, adding that would bring the total to about 800,000. “To do this, we must make higher education more affordable.”
Beshear, a former lieutenant governor and attorney general, also has a plan to keep college graduates in the state. It’s called the Kentucky First Scholarship Program and would forgive one year of state loans for every year a graduate works in Kentucky.
The program would cost about $27 million in its first year, a Beshear spokeswoman said.
Those state loans would be granted only after all other available assistance — such as scholarships, grants and student loans — are used. The program would apply to all students, whether from Kentucky or out of state.
Though some data suggests that Kentucky is experiencing a “brain gain,” there is a general consensus that the state, along with others in the region, ranks quite low when it comes to education. Poverty here remains high. (More on reasons why here.) Meanwhile, our sitting governor advocates phony science and appeasing his fellow neocon hypocrites above making real progress in the state.
