Kentucky Community and Technical College System
Ready to Work: Facts
"Ready-to-Work" (RTW) is an initiative developed through a partnership between the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) and the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services (KCHFS) and is designed to promote the success of Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program (KTAP/TANF) parents who are interested in attending community and technical colleges and could benefit from having a certificate, a diploma, an associate degree. The initiative assists with job skills, life skills, academic success training, counseling, advising, mentoring, referrals to other agencies for needed services, and securing and retaining employment. The initiative also provides participants with work-study opportunities relevant to their fields of study in both private and non-profit settings. This provides the participants with work experience, job retention skills and extra income and provides employers an opportunity to recruit KCTCS/RTW students and graduates for full-time or part-time employment.

· There are 20 full-time Ready-to-Work Coordinators serving 16 KCTCS (Kentucky Community and Technical College System) colleges.

· The RTW work-study initiative began in 1998, but full-time coordinators were not part of the program until 1999.

· From the spring of 1999 to the spring of 2006 there was a 288% increase in the number of KTAP students enrolled in KCTCS/Ready-to-Work college sites, from 395 to 1531.

· The percentage of the KTAP/TANF population attending college in Kentucky is 8.7%. This is a greater percentage than the percentage of the general population attending college.

· From the spring of 1999 to the fall of 2006 there was a 645% increase in the number of Ready-to-Work participants who participated in RTW work-study, from 97 to 723.

· From the beginning of the spring 2006 semester to the end of the spring 2006 semester, the RTW retention rate was 95%. The retention rate from fall 2004 to fall 2005 was 63% in Ready-to-Work.

· The overall GPA for RTW for the spring 2006 term was 2.70. The average GPA for the KCTCS colleges overall was 2.69. (This was the last reporting period.)

· The RTW initiative began tracking the number of KTAP/RTW students graduating from KCTCS colleges in the spring of 2001. Since that time, 1098 Ready-to-Work participants and 329 former Ready-to-Work particpants have graduated from KCTCS colleges. Seven hundred participants continued their post-secondary education after graduating.