When students graduate, it is important they have a degree that prepares them for employment in their chosen field. The Council’s academic program approval process ensures that degrees awarded from Kentucky’s public universities and KCTCS help students compete in a global economy.
Why Kentucky needs an academic program approval process
The academic program review process is a key responsibility of state coordinating boards like the Council. The process ensures that academic programs are consistent with state and institutional strategic priorities, academic quality measures, market demand and cost.
How academic program approval works
A proposal for a new program is first evaluated extensively by the leadership of the offering campus, and then by peers from each of Kentucky’s state universities and KCTCS. Additionally, Council staff reviews proposals to ensure the quality and efficacy of the program. Lastly, Council membership must formally approve the program before it can be offered by the institution.
How academic program review benefits Kentuckians
Kentucky’s public institutions offer hundreds of programs. The academic program approval process helps refine these offerings to meet the state’s needs through the most cost-effective implementation. Students and families, as well as the campus itself, benefit from the focus on quality, cost and state need.
How academic program review helps us toward 2030 goals
Raising the state’s educational attainment level is the big goal of the state’s strategic agenda for postsecondary and adult education. When institutional staff work on the academic program review process, it helps focus them on demand for a program as well as the institution’s ability to provide a high-quality curriculum. Further, it provides self-reflection on a larger platform: whether the program meets the state’s societal and economic needs.
Learn more about Kentucky's education goals by viewing Stronger By Degrees, the Council's strategic agenda for postsecondary and adult education.