A new agreement could help Grayson County students earn a degree from Western Kentucky University without driving any farther than Leitchfield.

On Nov. 10, WKU and Elizabethtown Community and Technical College signed a joint admissions agreement that will allow students to be admitted to both schools simultaneously.

Joint admission will give students access to a full range of services at both institutions, said Brian Meredith, WKU’s associate vice president for enrollment management, who was part of the team that finalized the agreement.

“The timing of the agreement works well with Kentucky’s move towards a seamless pathway to a four-year degree,” he said. “The partnership will eliminate barriers, reduce the time to a degree, and expand services for students”

In a statement, ECTC President/CEO Thelma White said the agreement will allow a seamless transition from associate’s degree programs to bachelor’s degree programs and allow area students to complete most of their study closer to home.

WKU President Gary Ransdell noted the agreement will allow students to complete their associates degree at ECTC, then continue their education at the university’s main campus in Bowling Green, or at its satellite campuses in Elizabethtown, Owensboro and Glasgow.

And with ECTC planning to build a new campus in Leitchfield, the joint admissions agreement means a broadening of the higher education opportunities expected to be available in Grayson County in coming years.

ECTC spokeswoman Mary J. King said the joint admissions agreement will cover all the college’s campuses as well as its-off campus class sites.

The college already has full-service campuses in Elizabethtown, Fort Knox and Springfield, as well as off-campus sites at Leitchfield, Clarkson, Bardstown, Brandenburg, Greensburg, Hardinsburg, Munfordville and Radcliff.

The joint admissions initiative is not the first of its kind for WKU. Almost 700 students have participated in similar agreements between the university and Bowling Green Technical College, Henderson Community College, Hopkinsville Community College, Madisonville Community College and Owensboro Community and Technical College.

More than 1,100 ECTC students have transferred to WKU over the past five years. Officials predict more than 300 ECTC students will transfer to WKU this academic year.