Kansas Board of Regents

The Kansas Board of Regents is pushing forward with studying how to find and enroll Kansans with some college but no degree, although with some trepidation.

Would time and expense needed to implement such an initiative pay off?

“This goal to me is one that’s critical but it’s really, really hard,” Regents President and CEO Blake Flanders said. “The for-profit sector has probably targeted this group more than our public system.”

The Regents on Thursday voted to form a working group to explore and suggest the best way to organize a statewide initiative for attracting Kansans with some college but no diploma back to higher education to complete a certificate or degree.

The group is expected to present a recommendation in October, at which point the Regents will determine whether to launch such an initiative.

An estimated 38,000 Kansans — in actuality, probably more — have some college credit but no degree, said Gary Alexander, Regents vice president for academic affairs.

A statewide campaign to get them back in class at public post-secondary institutions would involve possible revisions to state policy as well as a plan for supporting such students once they’re enrolled.

“We do need to think critically about the kinds of supports and the kinds of advising that are needed for returning adults,” Alexander said. “There are many examples of failures.”

Flanders added that unlike high school graduates, the some-college-no-degree group — scattered and years removed from high school — is harder to locate and contact. Also, he said, reasons they did not complete college in the first place may still be in play, including cases where they started out academically unprepared.

Alexander said Regents staff already have a proposal from Fort Hays State University and a concept paper that the working group will start by reviewing.