A Kentucky program geared toward helping college students make it to the finish line has won a national award. The program, Project Graduate has been in place since 2008 in Kentucky.
It helps students in the state's public universities who have 80 or more credit hours but no bachelor's degree to complete their degree. The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education announced the award last week. Noel-Lveitz, a national consulting firm, calls Project Graduate one of the most successful, state-of-the-art retention programs in the country. It offers returning students incentives such as zero application fees, tuition assistance, priority enrollment and advising. As of 2011, 605 former students had earned their bachelor's degrees through the program, and another 651 adults were enrolled.