Representatives from the state Council on Postsecondary Education met Monday with Eastern Kentucky University officials to discuss its role in increasing the number of college graduates to the national average by 2020.

CPE’s “Double the Numbers: Kentucky’s Plan to Increase College Graduates” released Wednesday explains that increasing bachelor’s degrees is the quickest, most direct way for Kentucky to increase its economic prosperity and meet the goals of the Kentucky Postsecondary Education Improvement Act of 1997.

“If, within that period of time, we could double the numbers of college graduates that live within our borders, it would have a more dramatic effect on the state’s economy than on anything other we’ve done in any 20-year period in the state’s history,” said Brad Cowgill, CPE interim president.

The plan includes five statewide strategies, as well as a regional approach that sets targets for each strategy in nine regions across the state.

Doubling the number of bachelor’s degree holders in the 22-county southeast region, which includes Madison County, could raise the average household in come from $23,043 to $45,237, according to the report.

The southeast region, which, along with EKU, includes Berea College, would have to have 7,039 high school graduates, 2,957 GED graduates, 1,872 two- to four-year transfers, 4,692 bachelor’s degrees and 10,414 imported bachelor’s degree holders, by 2020 to meet the strategy targets.

The plan calls for EKU to increase bachelor’s degrees from 1,979 in 2007 to 2,397 in 2020.

“We’re taking the approach that we’re going to serve this 22-county campus to the best of our ability,” said EKU President Doug Whitlock.

“We realize that in order to get there we’re going to have to do a much more effective job in serving the needs of these 22-county campuses and carrying those needs into the field,” he said. “This can’t all be done in Richmond.”

A plan to drastically increase EKU’s enrollment and the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded was outlined in September during a board of regents luncheon.

Highlights of the university’s “20K2020 Business Plan” were presented to board members by Dr. Charles Haywood, a former University of Kentucky professor of economics and dean of the College of Commerce (known today as the Gatton College of Business and Economics).

To help with student retention, the university plans to enhance and expand support services for at-risk students and provide more financial aid for students from economically depressed areas and for non-traditional, transfer and upper-division students.

The plan also calls for stronger extended campuses, stronger partnerships with the Kentucky Community and Technical College System and alternative curriculum delivery methods.

The strategies listed to help achieve goals in the plan include graduation and retention task forces addressing issues, providing an Early Childhood Center, overcoming under-preparedness by incoming students and the need for education extension agents to consolidate services, coordinate recruiting efforts and work with kindergarten through 12th-grade institutions to raise expectations.

In order to measure the progress of the plan, university officials hope to increase the freshman-to-sophomore retention rate to 75 percent, increase the six-year graduate rate by 40 percent and maintain 18 to 1 student-faculty ration, among other benchmarks by 2020.

“To help get the word out and to indicate Eastern’s desire to serve, and to explain the components of our business plan focusing on this, we are starting a nine-city tour,” Whitlock said. “We will be meeting with civic, school, political and business leaders. We’re going to get input from people in these communities on how Eastern can help meet their needs and what it will mean in a financial sense to them to double the numbers.”

The tour begins today with the Manchester, Hazard and Corbin/London regions. Future stops will include Lexington, Lancaster, Danville, Somerset and Pikeville.

A Nov. 2 meeting will be conducted at the Arlington House for the Richmond/Berea area.

“This report outlines the path that will take us from where we are to the goal we said in 1997 that we wanted to reach by the year 2020,” Cowgill said. “I don’t know anyone who has said that we can’t do it. I think one of the beneficial effects of having the plan written out is to give people confidence that in can, in fact, be achieved.”

Bryan Marshall can be reached at bmarshall@richmondregister.com or 624-6691.