Kentucky is faced with serious challenges that threaten our economic prosperity and put us at a competitive disadvantage with many other states in the nation.

Kentucky ranks last in the nation in the percentage of adults over 25 who have a high school diploma.

Kentucky ranks 48th in the nation in the percentage of its population with a bachelor's degree.

Nearly 44 percent of Kentuckians lack the knowledge and skills to fully participate in the Commonwealth's economy.

Thousands of citizens lack the knowledge and skills to fully participate in the Commonwealth's economy as productive and efficient employees capable of adapting to emerging technologies.

Only 53 percent of Kentucky's students attend college directly out of high school, and many of those who do are required to take remedial courses to prepare them for college-level work.

Low educational attainment by Kentucky's citizens is exacerbated by the state's continuing struggles with high secondary school dropout rates, uneven access to postsecondary resources (particularly for the poor, the uneducated, and minorities), low motivation, high attrition, and the lowest levels of adult literacy in the nation (nearly one million adults function at the lowest literacy levels).

Many Kentuckians are unable to access postsecondary education due to lack of basic skills, transportation, child care, financial aid, or information about opportunities.

Cultural, social, and ethnic heritage also prevents many students (and their parents and families) from placing value on postsecondary education.

Kentucky must expand access to increasing levels of postsecondary education and training to provide the pathway for better-paying jobs. Two-thirds of the jobs created in Kentucky over the next five years are projected to require the type of postsecondary education and training that community colleges provide.

The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education estimates that an additional 80,000 students must access higher education over the next 20 years in order to make Kentucky competitive with its benchmark states. Approximately 50,000 of those students are predicted to access higher education through a local two-year college.