Well, duh! 2/14/07

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A push to increase the number of college graduates in Kentucky to the national average may have been jeopardized by skyrocketing tuition, auditors concluded in a report released Wednesday.

State Auditor Crit Luallen said the findings suggest that Kentucky may not be able to meet the goal set by lawmakers when they passed higher education reforms 10 years ago. They wanted Kentucky to reach the national average by 2020.

The review by auditors from Luallen’s office found that the total number of Kentuckians enrolled as full-time college students has grown by only 10 percent since 1998, and has actually fallen by 900 since 2003. To turn that trend around, auditors recommend reducing tuition for instate students and increasing financial aid to needy Kentucky students.

Auditors said tuition has increased from an average $2,424 a year at the state’s public universities to $5,522, roughly 128 percent over the past eight years.

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