In 2018, the United States Census Bureau reported that 23.2 percent of Kentucky residents have obtained a bachelor’s degree. That percentage could be higher, but life sometimes gets in the way of accessibility to a post-secondary institution. Geography, finances or just plain bad decisions can build formidable barriers to furthering an education.
Nearly a dozen colleges and universities across the Commonwealth are working to break down at least one of those barriers. With institutions establishing smaller “satellite campuses” throughout Kentucky as well as more online degree programs, geography is becoming less of an excuse to not attain a degree.
“I always say, ‘Education is the key to options,’ ” said Tommie Ann Saragas, the assistant vice president of educational outreach, online and graduate programs at Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia. “It doesn’t make you better than anybody else, but it makes you the best version of yourself, and it gives you more options for your future.”
Lindsey Wilson expanded outside its campus borders in 2002 when it partnered with the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. Together, they began offering a Bachelor of Arts degree in human services and counseling and a Master of Education degree in counseling and human development at four community college locations. Saragas said the program “took off and expanded” to 18 locations in Kentucky, plus seven more in Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
“We are small in our geography here on our main campus, but our footprint is massive,” Saragas said. “[Lindsey Wilson] could have stayed the way they were forever, but they took that leap of faith where it was needed. We are really living our mission and taking the opportunity where people need it.”
Campbellsville University is another institution that recognized the need to expand outside its Taylor County borders. Four years ago, Campbellsville had just a few satellite locations with limited class options.
“Our Somerset location was on life support with 25 students; Harrodsburg had 45 students. The Louisville campus did not even exist, and Hodgenville had about nine students,” said Dr. Wesley Carter, the associate vice president of university outreach. “Since that time and an immense amount of hard work within a cadre of people our organization, we’re now very pleased to say in Somerset we have over 300 students. In Harrodsburg, we have over 400 students. Hodgenville has over 40 students. In Louisville, we now have about 7,000 students across two locations.”
Dr. G. Ted Taylor, the president of Campbellsville’s university outreach, has broken down the program’s goals into what he calls the Four E’s: enlarge the mission, empower students, engage local communities and offer excellence in education.
CU’s eight regional campuses offer certificates and degrees in a variety of programs, including early education, information technology and more. Taylor said that to take those degrees outside the main campus is to spread the university’s Christian mission.
“A lot of these counties are divided politically, demographically and socially, but it really seems like a Christian education … is able to bring them together more and more,” Taylor said. “We want to get bigger because we want to impact more people’s lives.”
That impact also can empower students for life.
“Life change happens here,” Taylor said. “That’s really a motivation factor for us.”
For both CU and Lindsey Wilson, community involvement is essential.
In addition to its partnership with KCTCS, Lindsey Wilson teams up with local health care facilities to deepen those community roots.
“We’ll partner not only with a community college but also with a mental health facility, so we educate the students, and they can train in their field and have employment opportunities in that field when they graduate,” Sagaras said. “We’re not just there to take students; we’re there to grow that community. We’re changing lives, and we’re changing communities one student at a time.”
Some potential students may have weekday jobs that make it difficult for them to get to the classroom. With weekend classes and online programs, many universities and colleges are breaking down the time barrier.
“It’s for someone who has a life and a full-time job and full-time responsibilities—those who just can’t go to a brick-and-mortar four-year institution,” Saragas said. “There are first-generation, adult learners that we graduate. It’s almost indescribable to see a person who has lived a life—and maybe made some really bad choices—and think they can’t or never could [attend college] and then find out they could all along.”
Taylor agrees.
“A lot of our students are first-generation students, both on the main campus and even more so at the centers,” he said. “So we’re changing family trees, and the more that we can do that, the more we want to do it. We’re willing to fight for their future, to give wings to their dreams and give them second and third chances.”
Many adult learners also cite financial constraints as a barrier for furthering their education, something CU and other higher education institutions recognize.
Carter said Campbellsville’s regional campus costs are $399 per credit hour versus $1,038 per hour at the main campus. Lindsey Wilson charges $414 per credit hour at its regional campuses, whereas it’s about $1,000 per credit hour at its Columbia campus.
“The limits are shaken off, whether it’s us or the college down the street or across the country,” Saragas said.
While it appears the expansion of educational opportunities continues to grow throughout Kentucky—be it at brick-and-mortar satellite locations or online programs—the key, Taylor said, is to stay focused on the student.
“Our whole world [once] revolved around the main campus, and now, with a little over 2,000 students on the main campus and 11,000 off-campus, it’s really shifted,” Taylor said. “But it’s important that, when we enlarge our mission, we keep our brand strong, whether it’s on the main campus or whether it’s in the centers. It’s important we be consistent with what we are delivering. We want to get bigger because we want to impact more people’s lives.”
Kentucky Satellite Campuses
Campbellsville University, Campbellsville
Clinton College & Career Center
Elizabethtown Instructional Site
Harrodsburg Conover Education Center
Hodgenville Brockman Education Center
Casey County Education Center
Louisville Education Center
Owensboro Instructional Site
Somerset Noe Education Center
Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond
Central Region, Lancaster
South Region, Corbin
East Region, Manchester and Hazard
Frontier Nursing University, Hyden
slated to open a Versailles campus in 2020
Lindsey Wilson College, Columbia
Ashland
Cumberland
Danville
Elizabethtown
Hazard
Henderson
Hopkinsville
Lexington
London
Louisville
Madisonville
Maysville
Paducah
Prestonsburg
Radcliff
Scottsville
Somerset
Cincinnati, Ohio
Hillsboro, Ohio
Gallatin, Tennessee
Big Stone Gap, Virginia
Richlands, Virginia
Wytheville, Virginia
Logan, West Virginia
Morehead State University, Morehead
MSU at Ashland
MSU at Mt. Sterling
MSU at Prestonsburg
University Center of the Mountains, Hazard
Murray State University, Murray
Fort Campbell
Henderson
Hopkinsville
Madisonville
Paducah
Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights
Grant County Center in Williamstown
Sullivan University, Louisville
Lexington
Ft. Knox
University of the Cumberlands, Williamsburg
Northern Kentucky Campus, Florence
Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green
WKU Elizabethtown, Fort Knox
WKU Glasgow
WKU Owensboro