Quantitative Waiver Proposal
Kentucky State University submits this proposal as part of the Institution's application for a quantitative waiver. The University exhibited continuous progress in four out of seven objectives established in the Kentucky Plan.
The University achieved its goal in the following areas:
Kentucky African-American undergraduate enrollments
Employment of African-Americans as executive, administrative and managerial Staff
Employment of African American faculty
Employment of African Americans as other professionals
The University did not achieve its goals in the following three areas:
Retention of First-Year Kentucky resident students (objective was 52.2% for all Kentucky undergraduates, actual performance was 43.4% for African American students and 42.9% for white students)
Retention of all Kentucky resident undergraduate students (objective was 66.1% for all Kentucky undergraduates; actual performance was 65.9% for African American students and 69.2% for white students).
Six-year graduation rate for degree-seeking Kentucky residents – fall 2002 cohort (objective was 25.4% for all students; actual performance was 16.3% for African American students and 19.5% for white students).
Kentucky State University is challenged by various issues that negatively impact its efforts to manage the widening gap associated with college affordability for minority and all students attending the institution. While approximately 20% of all Kentucky students from low income families went to college ten years ago, that number has now declined. This same trend is indicated by national data, as students now graduate with nearly twice as much education-related debt than ten years ago. Financial aid is available. However, the University has experienced a national trend that shifted such aid from need-based to merit-based criteria. Our efforts to counter these exclusionary trends have centered around our belief that minority and lower-income students have much potential for success, but must be provided ample financial support to do so. The institution has made significant and critical investments in its efforts to reverse the national trend and more effectively address affordability from a “needs-based” perspective.
Students who take remedial classes often must spend more time in college than those who do not require it. In its 2008 Developmental Education Update, the CPE reported that 48% of recent Kentucky high school graduates required remediation in one or more subjects, and 54% of all students entering post-secondary institutions required the same. In 2004, 53% of Kentucky public college entrants were unprepared in one or more subjects. The percentage of students who were unprepared in mathematics increased from 41% in 2002 to 44% in 2004. Within the higher education system of Kentucky, Kentucky State University, as the state's only HBCU, traditionally enrolls a significantly higher proportion of under-prepared students than the other institutions. Kentucky State had 85.3% of its 2002 credential-seeking cohort (with placement
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