College Graduation Gap – Kentucky

College graduation gap widens for low-income Kentuckians, By Linda B. Blackford, July 9, 2012, Lexington Herald-Leader: “More Kentuckians are getting college degrees, but a troubling trend has emerged in who receives them. According to a new report, the gap between graduation rates for low-income college students and moderate- to high-income students jumped 8 percentage points between 2008 and 2010. In those two years, the graduation rate of low-income Kentucky students fell from 46 percent to 35 percent, according to an annual accountability report from the Council on Postsecondary Education. In comparison, the graduation rate of moderate- to high-income students dropped four percentage points, from 57 percent to 53 percent. The gap between graduation rates for rich and poor students increased from 10 percentage points to 18. The gap is connected to a bad economy, higher tuition rates and less state aid, and it’s a big problem, according to one expert on the economy and higher education. . .”