Education opportunities abound in Northern Kentucky
Whether you’re looking to get a high school equivalency and career training certificate or pursue a four-year degree, Northern Kentucky has plenty of adult education opportunities. And some of its programs are among the best in the nation.
Serving the counties of Boone, Kenton, Pendleton, Grant and Owen, Gateway Community and Technical College (GCTC) covers a large geographic area. And it is having an impact on workforce challenges facing the entire region.
“Employers in Northern Kentucky are telling us that they ‘will take everyone you can give us,’” says Peg Russell, GCTC’s regional director of Adult Education and Student Testing. “Northern Kentucky is very forward thinking when it comes to preparing people for careers. There is a multi-discipline strategy across Northern Kentucky that is literally a cradle to adult concept. It calls for all educators to be involved in helping students whether it is in elementary school or all the way through college.
“My division is responsible for high school equivalency programs, which is the first step toward getting a better job or promotion,” adds Russell. “And we have a really good success rate. When it comes to getting a GED (which is the most accepted high school equivalency credential) we often graduate the same sized class as a normal high school.”
While COVID did impact GCTC’s programs the past two years, the program is back on track to help people get into new careers, get training credentials or move onto to higher degrees.
“When someone drops out of high school, it is rarely for academic reasons,” says Russell. “It’s usually for all those other reasons and barriers that have impacted their life, like having a child, losing a parent or being homeless.”
A great deal of the success of GCTC’s adult education is due to the fact that many of the classes are held directly on the school’s campuses.
“There is nothing worse than sending an adult to an elementary school or middle school to study for a high school equivalency,” Russell says. “But once we have them on campus, a whole world of possibilities opens up to them. They may be taking classes for a high school diploma, while also learning career skills like how to weld, or work on a car, or become a nurse’s aide. The next step, would obviously be an associate degree.”
Because it is accredited through the Southern Association of College and Schools, the credits earned at GCTC (and most all Kentucky community colleges for that matter) are transferable to four-year schools like Northern Kentucky University, the University of Louisville, University of Kentucky or even Alabama—which can dramatically reduce the cost of a four-year degree.
Of course, the next step in adult education is moving on toward associate or even bachelor’s degrees. Northern Kentucky University offers a unique program that allows adults to receive credit for prior work experience or training.
“We have one of the most robust credit for prior learning offerings in the state of Kentucky and possibly even in the nation,” says Amy Danzo, director, Testing Services and Adult Learner Programs at the school. “We focus on undergraduate programs, because once you get a degree, a person can make anywhere between $10,000 and $15,000 a year or more.”
Undergraduate degrees are also a very important goal statewide. The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education is leading efforts to get more Kentuckians highly educated. By 2030, it estimates that at least 60% of working-age adults in Kentucky will need to have earned a postsecondary education degree or credential to meet expected workforce demands.
