By Angela Hatton
Frankfort, KY – Kentucky's higher education system conferred over 57,000 degrees this academic year. The Council on Post Secondary Education reports that's a 9.3 percent increase over last year. That includes all public and private universities, and the community and technical college system. Officials applaud the growth, but they say graduation rates still need improvement. According to the most recent data available, the graduation rate for public universities is 49 percent, and the rate for community colleges is only 20 percent.