KCTS officials discuss barriers that keep students from succeeding

Sep. 17—The heads of the Kentucky Community & Technical College System said Thursday that students at community colleges traditionally face more hurdles between them and a college degree than students at four-year state universities.

Those nonacademic challenges include being older and having more demands on their time, having more financial insecurity and not knowing how to navigate important parts of college life, such as applying for financial aid and registering for classes.

KCTCS President Paul Czarapata and Chancellor Kris Williams discussed how the community college system has worked to identify and address barriers to graduation during a meeting with the legislature's Oversight and Investigations Committee.

In 2019, legislative staff looked at barriers to community college success.

It recommended KCTCS work to determine how often students encounter such barriers, and measure whether or not programs put in place to address them are having an impact.

Chris Hall, a senior policy analyst with the Legislative Research Commission, told lawmakers that KCTCS students are more likely to be the first members of their family to go to college, to come from low-income households and to be older than students at a four-year state college.

Students at community colleges are also less prepared for college than are typical four-year university students.

For a financially insecure student, a barrier would he or she "has to decide between tuition and putting food on the table," Hall said.

Other financial issues include housing insecurity, challenges with transportation, and childcare, Hall said.

Other factors include students being disengaged from community college, if the student has no way to connect with campus life. Physical and mental health issues also pose significant barriers, Hall said.

KCTCS serves about 100,000 students annually from 16 college and 70 locations, Czarapata said.

Finding childcare is an issue for students that was only made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, Czarapata said.

"One-third of our students have dependents," Czarapata said.

The community college system has 140 programs to assist students with nonacademic barriers, including programs to address financial instability, navigating college, health, time constraints and disengagement, Czarapata said.

In addition to gathering data on barriers and programs, KCTCS uses a program that tracks student progress and communicates with student to offer encouragement and access to resources, Czarapata said.

Some barriers can be hard to track, Czarapata said. For example, students that could benefit from financial resources or food resources may not self-identify, he said.

KCTCS has partnerships with food pantries, agencies like the United Way, mental health providers and child care agencies to assist students, Czarapata said. He added that financial aid, financial literacy and even micro-loans are available.

When the pandemic hit, KCTCS set up Wi-Fi in campus parking lots, so students could work.

"What we realized very quickly ... is our students didn't have adequate Wi-Fi at home," Czarapata said.

Sen. Danny Carroll, a Benton Republican and committee co-chair, said KCTCS could partner with private childcare centers to reserve spaces for the children of students.

Williams said the college system is working with businesses on childcare proposals, but that childcare professionals are not well-paid.

Carroll said early childcare funding needs to be considered as education funding.

"I'm well-aware of the deserts in the state where we have not (childcare) providers," Carroll said. "It's an issue where we are going to have to think outside the box, because our (system) doesn't work."

When asked what resources KCTCS needs most, Williams said, "We could get every dollar to work and it would be an investment in the commonwealth, because we are working very hard to meet the needs of employers" in the state.

The committee also discussed the need for the community college system to graduate more students from nursing programs. The state board of nursing caps the number of nursing students programs can enroll, Williams said.

Carroll said the community colleges are important in training the workforce.

KCTCS statistics provided to the committee said the system issues 66% of all nursing and allied health credentials in the state, and trains 82% of the state's skilled trade workers.

"You are all critical to the success of this commonwealth, and that role is going to increase each year as we get more industry into the state" that requires workers receive advanced training, Carroll said.

James Mayse, 270-691-7303, jmayse@messenger-inquirer.com, Twitter: @JamesMayse