The Work Ready Kentucky Scholarship (WRKS) provides financial support for Kentuckians with a high school degree or GED to enroll in postsecondary programs with a focus on high-demand workforce sectors. For those WRKS recipients who earned a postsecondary degree in 2023, almost 65% received a certificate or diploma. More people earned credentials in the Trades (40%) than any other group followed by Health (27%), while the top three industries of post-completion employment were Health Care & Social Assistance, Manufacturing, and Construction.

The Work Ready Dual Credit Scholarship (WKDC) provides aid to high school students to pursue dual credit in a similarly eligible postsecondary course. For those 2023 high school graduates who were recipients of the WKDC scholarship, over 91% were either enrolled in postsecondary or employed within one year after graduating. In fact, 66% were immediately enrolled in postsecondary compared to 48% of 2023 high school graduates overall. Among those not enrolled in postsecondary, these recipients had a median wage of $17,079 in 2024 as compared to a median wage of $14,846 for all high school graduates.

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