Finance and Administration Cabinet
Gov. Beshear’s Higher Education Work Group Releases Report on Affordability:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Gov. Beshear’s Higher Education Work Group Releases Report on Affordability:
Recommends aid to Veterans, reduced textbook costs and greater transparency
      
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Jan. 16, 2009)—The task force directed by Gov. Steve Beshear to help ensure that any Kentuckian with the ability and desire to succeed is not denied a college education due to cost, has released its first report on college affordability.

The Higher Education Work Group, a 26-member bipartisan task force comprised of prominent business, education, and policy leaders, is co-chaired by Lexington businesswoman Mira Ball and Bowling Green businessman Pete Mahurin.

The 35-page report entitled, Expanding College Access and Affordability in the commonwealth, presents a number of recommendations to improve college affordability, including: 
o Allowing military veterans to enroll at Kentucky public postsecondary institutions at in-state resident tuition rates, even if they hail from elsewhere;
o Introducing legislation and/or regulations that promote lower college textbook cost, as well as greater transparency and predictability for students and families with regard to textbook costs;
o Providing more direct assistance to help students and families access all sources of financial aid, including the integration of the state’s existing college access Web sites into one comprehensive, consumer-friendly site;
o Convening the state’s economic, business, education and workforce development partners to identify ways to expand innovative workplace education incentives, benefits and programs; and
o Providing more transparency about what it costs to educate a student.

The report also recommends review of several key issues to inform the committee’s work in preparation for the September 2009 report, which will examine more substantive, complex issues surrounding college affordability, such as the balance between tuition and state support; higher education financing; institutional effectiveness and productivity; and state student financial aid. 

“I am pleased by the thoughtful and comprehensive recommendations of this work group operating with minimal time and limited resources,” said Gov. Beshear. “But as their report duly notes, the hard work has just begun. Ensuring that every motivated, hard-working Kentuckian can have access to higher education requires bold thinking and innovative ideas, and I believe that we have assembled the right group to accomplish this.”

The work group was established on October 21, 2008.  The group also received advice from two committees appointed by Gov. Beshear, one composed of university presidents, and the other made up of college students from across the commonwealth.

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