New Thoughts of College

More people enrolled at colleges and universities in Kentucky last fall than ever before.

More than a quarter of a million students signed up for schools in the state—5 percent more than the year before.

Educators agree the weak economy plays a part in that surge of interest in education.

But the numbers also show Kentuckians may be thinking differently about education.

The biggest increase came in the state’s community and technical colleges. Unemployed people see community schools as an efficient way to increase their job skills.

But stories in this month’s Kentucky Living show that education can also be part of broader life goals.

Brandi McElfresh describes a winding life journey that led to nursing preparation at Maysville Community and Technical College.

You can read about the long days of Keneysha Rodney, working, volunteering, raising a family, and attending Elizabethtown Community and Technical College to be a high school English teacher.

Brandi and Keneysha aren’t responding to the economy of the past year, but to life ambitions. They see college as the way to make those dreams come true.

They’re not alone. While enrollment at Kentucky colleges jumped from 2008, the number of students in the past 10 years has grown 40 percent. Higher education in Kentucky is becoming a way of life.

To be a part of that growing number of students of all ages, you can get help from the Kentucky Living College Guide. Right after you finish reading Keneysha’s story in—Dreaming the College Dream—you’ll find contact and background information on each of Kentucky’s colleges and universities: Kentucky Living College Guide. Or, search for the current year’s Kentucky Living College Guide.