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CPE Awards UK Project Graduate Grant

By Lindsey Piercy

Mark Cornelison | UK Photo.

The University of Kentucky has been awarded a $25,000 Project Graduate Grant from the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE). The strategic funds will be used to boost degree completion of former students with 80 or more credit hours.

In total, $300,000 will be spread among six Kentucky campuses, to help students succeed in college.

UK will build off a successful pilot with the College of Arts and Sciences. The goal is to identify former students who qualify for the new Bachelor of Liberal Studies program and expand the model to other colleges.

“We are delighted to fund these high-impact proposals,” Aaron Thompson, president of CPE, said. “In times of scarce resources, targeting funds to support strategic programs can be a real game-changer for our students.”

Following a competitive review process, the council also awarded $50,000 Stronger by Degrees Student Success grants to Eastern Kentucky University, Northern Kentucky University, Bluegrass Community and Technical College, Maysville Community and Technical College and Owensboro Community and Technical College. NKU will also receive a Project Graduate award of $25,000. The funds will be used to improve student progression and degree completion, with a special emphasis on low-income and underrepresented minority students.

The council issued a call for proposals last month. Both programs align to Thompson’s five key priorities and the metrics for Kentucky’s performance funding model.

The University of Kentucky is increasingly the first choice for students, faculty and staff to pursue their passions and their professional goals. In the last two years, Forbes has named UK among the best employers for diversity and INSIGHT into Diversity recognized us as a Diversity Champion two years running. UK is ranked among the top 30 campuses in the nation for LGBTQ* inclusion and safety. The Chronicle of Higher Education judged us a “Great College to Work for,”  and UK is among only 22 universities in the country on Forbes' list of "America's Best Employers."  We are ranked among the top 10 percent of public institutions for research expenditures — a tangible symbol of our breadth and depth as a university focused on discovery that changes lives and communities. And our patients know and appreciate the fact that UK HealthCare has been named the state’s top hospital for three straight years. Accolades and honors are great. But they are more important for what they represent: the idea that creating a community of belonging and commitment to excellence is how we honor our mission to be not simply the University of Kentucky, but the University for Kentucky.