Kentucky Colleges, Universities Sign Consortium Agreement

Reporting by Kentucky Public Radio's Charles Compton.A dozen universities and colleges in central and eastern Kentucky have strengthened their partnership this week, which may help students frustrated by a lack of options.The 12 colleges and universities that have signed the Bluegrass Higher Education Consortium are trying to ease the administrative headaches that come with being a student.Under the agreement, students will have the opportunity to take certain courses within the consortium and those credits can be applied toward their degree.The agreement may remove many of the barriers that separate these institutions, said Eastern Kentucky University President Doug Whitlock.“One of the things that we hope to see grow out of this is a situation where if a student on one campus is one course away graduating and their home institution’s not teaching that course in a particular semester, that they can take it somewhere else," he said.Whitlock said he hopes the consortium will help students stay in college and earn degrees more quickly.President of Bluegrass Community and Technical College Augusta Julian said it will open up the options for students.“It’s important to create bigger pathways for students in the region so that they can pick and choose among the unique programs, among the terrific courses, great faculty throughout our colleges," said Julian.The partnership may also encourage more joint research projects among the institutions, said Julian.The schools involved are Asbury University, Berea College, Bluegrass Community and Technical College Centre College, Eastern Kentucky University, Georgetown College, Kentucky State University, Midway College, Morehead State University, Sullivan University and Transylvania University, University of Kentucky.