Budget Cuts Affecting Access to Higher Education

A few articles of note

at JCTC due to budget cuts.  Here's an excerpt:

Jefferson Community and Technical College plans to shut down its high school equivalency testing center -- the largest in the state -- at the end of the year, saying state funding cuts make it impossible to continue.

Closing the center -- which operates testing sites in Jefferson and surrounding counties -- means thousands of Louisville-area residents, many of them with limited resources, would have to travel to take the exam for a General Educational Development diploma, or GED. The nearest center is in Shelby County.

And with one in four working age adults in Kentucky lacking a high school diploma or GED, that's more bad news for a state trying to strengthen its economy by improving the education level of its workers.

And it's very bad news for all of the people in Jefferson County who are working for an education.  The article highlights a single mother who's been studying for her GED, and who is worried about being able to access a testing site if the Louisville site closes. 

Another article about the growing lack of access to higher ed in Kentucky from the Herald-Leader, Cost of college on lawmakers' minds.  The article points out,  "Tuition at Kentucky's public universities and community colleges has shot up an average of 12 percent a year over the last five years, which is about four times the rate of inflation and the growth of the state's median family income.

Here's another interesting excerpt:

The legislative subcommittee hopes to determine precisely what's causing the diminishing affordability of a college education. 

Hmm.  Did they notice those budget cuts that they delivered?