News Release: Strategic Master Plan update on agenda for HECB meeting in Olympia March 31

OLYMPIA— Panel presentations addressing college and career readiness, teacher preparation, and college access scholarships will be part of a day-long discussion at the Higher Education Coordinating Board’s (HECB) Thursday, March 31 meeting as the Board prepares to update the state’s Strategic Master Plan for Higher Education.

The current 10-year master plan was endorsed by the Legislature in 2008 as a set of broad policy goals for higher education in Washington.  The Board is required to update the Strategic Master Plan every four years.  The primary goal of the plan is to raise educational attainment among all Washington residents.

At its March 31 meeting, the Board will spend part of the morning reviewing the scope and context of the plan update, the main objectives and strategies of the current plan, and the timeline for work ahead. A panel composed of Randy Dorn, Superintendent of Instruction, Charlie Earl, executive director of the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, and Council of Presidents representative James Gaudino, president of Central Washington University, will  provide additional perspective about master plan priorities.

The afternoon session will include three panel discussions to aid the Board in its update efforts. The panels will include:

·         A presentation by American College Testing (ACT) representatives who will discuss ACT’s report on common core state standards for college and career readiness. The report is based on college and career readiness data gathered by ACT as part of its pre-college testing efforts.

·         A discussion by representatives of state higher education agencies, private institutions, and the K-12 system on what can be done in an era of budget cuts to develop college-ready students and classroom-ready teachers.

·         A presentation by Washington Scholarship Coalition representatives on the theWashBoard.org, a clearing house that helps students pay for college by connecting them to scholarship opportunities.     

Other business on the March HECB agenda will include a staff update on the 2011 legislative session and budget issues.

Briefing materials for the meeting are available at: www.hecb.wa.gov/boardmeetings/index.asp

College Bound Scholarship program puts CACG funds to good use, federal official says

Washington’s College Bound Scholarship program garnered praise recently from a senior Obama administration official in the U.S. Department of Education.

Dr. Eduardo M. Ochoa, assistant secretary for postsecondary education, cited the state’s College Bound program as an example of an initiative that aligns well with the objectives of the federal College Access Challenge Grant (CACG).  Ochoa spoke March 11 at a national meeting of CACG state directors in Washington, D.C.

CACG is a U.S. Department of Education program designed to encourage federal, state, and local government entities and philanthropic organizations to create partnerships that significantly increase the number of underrepresented students who enter and remain in postsecondary education.

Ochoa said College Bound demonstrates how CACG, state and private funding can be used to advance the work of public and private organizations in addressing key education challenges.  CACG funding is used to promote the College Bound message in all nine of the state’s Education Service Districts (ESDs) and to support students who sign up for the College Bound scholarship program, Ochoa said.

College Bound offers an early commitment of state need-based grants to very low-income students who sign a pledge in the seventh or eighth grade to stay in school, take challenging courses, demonstrate good citizenship, and enroll in college after graduating.

 “About 72,000 Washington students in grades 7 - 11 have signed up for the College Bound program during the last three years,” Ochoa said. “Working through interagency and public-private data sharing agreements, CACG facilitates delivery of timely information and support to these students and their families.”

“The CACG program is also working with other initiatives and programs to leverage impact and effectiveness by establishing statewide consortia and networks,” Ochoa said.  For example, CACG supports AmeriCorps programs on 25 campuses in Washington; provides professional development opportunities in 42 rural school districts; and packages "Imagining U" programs   for rural communities.

CACG has taken an initial step to improve coordination of other federally funding college readiness and access programs such as GEAR UP, TRIO, 21^st Century Communities, Perkins, Title II and AmeriCorps – to help state policy makers maximize federally funded programs and improve efficiency.”

Background

In Washington State, the Governor’s Office has designated the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) as the administrator for the CACG grant. More than $2 million in CACG funding will flow to the state this year. In December, the HECB announced seven Washington organizations that are receiving funding under the program.

CACG fund recipients are expected to address the following priorities:

·         statewide or regional college access and success issues for low-income, at risk students and their families;

·         support for students (and their families) enrolled in the College Bound Scholarship program;

·         assistance to low-income, first-generation, and minority students and their families when applying for college admission and financial aid; and

·         support for students transitioning from middle to high school, and from high school to college.

Organizations that proposed innovative approaches to increasing the college-going rate among low-income students through effective personalized assistance were given priority in the selection process.

For more information on the CACG program, contact Weiya Liang, GEAR UP and CACG Director, at weiyal@hecb.wa.gov,  or by phone at 360.753.7884.

State leaders and U.S. Education Secretary discuss governance issues

In a roundtable discussion on education governance Monday, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan commended the state’s governmental leaders for putting tough governance issues on the table and dealing with them openly and honestly on behalf of children.

“Governance isn’t going to solve all the problems, but it’s a starting point,” the Secretary said, speaking through a remote link from the nation’s capital. Listening and asking questions from Olympia was a panel that included Gov. Chris Gregoire, Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn, and several legislators who are involved in education issues.

Duncan acknowledged he did not know all the details of Washington’s governance issues, and he did not offer a blueprint for how he thought a state should structure its education governance system. However, he clearly was familiar with one point raised by Gov. Chris Gregoire in support of her argument for a single Department of Education—to provide state-level governance from early learning through higher education.

As an outsider looking in, Duncan said, he thought Washington has too many agencies dealing with education issues. “To have eight different agencies involved in education, I couldn’t think of a management guru who would draw up a structure like that from the ground up,” the Secretary said.

Superintendent Dorn, who has frequently been at odds with the Governor over her education department proposal, said that for him, the biggest education issue facing the state today are budget cuts. “We’re looking at cutting days, cutting budgets and cutting kids’ educational opportunity,” Dorn said.

Another panelist, Rep. Marcie Maxwell of Renton, said, “I would like to know how an overhaul of education governance will help with the daunting task of preserving funding for our schools.”

Duncan said the level of federal help provided to states through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is not likely to happen again, but he said President Obama has proposed adding $2 billion for education in his proposed FY 2012 budget.  Although obtaining funding at the proposed level will be difficult given the current budget challenges, “We have zero intention of reducing funding,” Duncan said.

Other remarks from the education Secretary:

·    If each state were an independent country and were compared with other nations, the state with the highest performing educational system, Massachusetts, would rank 17th.

·    A U.S. education system that calls for up to six hours of primary and secondary schooling per day in a 180-day school year is based on a 19th Century agrarian economy and isn’t competitive with educational systems in other nations.

·    Schools in some parts of the country are taking advantage of the communication tools popular with young people today, such as using cell phones to make assignments and extend learning time for students.

Search for new UW president intensifies

The Seattle Times reported in Sunday’s edition that the search for a new president at the University of Washington is gaining steam.  The UW Regents aren’t naming finalists, but people familiar with the process say the shortlist contains some strong candidates.

CWU student suggests recent supplemental budget decision reflects a changing view of tuition

In an op-ed piece published in today’s Seattle Times, Central Washington University student Logan Bahr argues that lawmakers’ recent decision to offset General Fund reductions in the State Need Grant program with tuition revenue is, in effect, treating tuition as just another revenue stream for state government.  Because students must cover at least some tuition increases by borrowing more, “the state is indirectly closing its budget gap with student debt,” Bahr says.

News Release: New Census data underscore need to make college available to all residents

OLYMPIA— Newly released data from the U.S. Census show that during the past decade, Washington added hundreds of thousands of new residents in racial or ethnic categories that are underrepresented in Washington’s higher education system.

According to data from the 2010 Census, Washington’s fastest growing population category was Hispanics or Latinos. They still trail most other groups in college participation, although their participation level has been increasing in recent years, thanks in part to the availability of financial assistance, college preparation programs such as GEAR UP, and other factors.

Data prepared by the HECB last year showed that Hispanics accounted for approximately 11.9 percent of the state population in 2009, but received only 5 percent of the bachelor’s degrees and 6.2 percent of the associate degrees awarded that year.

Income levels and lack of previous family experience with higher education are factors that may help account for the lower college-participation rates of some groups. 

In 2010, the Hispanic or Latino population stood at 755,790, a 71percent increase from 2000. Overall, Washington’s population grew 14.1 percent during the decade.

Over the same decade, Washington’s Asian population grew by 49.2 percent (to 481,067), Blacks or African Americans by 26.2 percent (to 240,042), Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders by 69 percent (to 40,475), and American Indian/Alaska Natives by 11.3 percent (to 10,568). Others who represented a single but unidentified racial category grew 52.8 percent (to 349,799), and the number who claimed two or more races grew by 46.6 percent (to 312,926).

The new Census figures underscore the need to encourage more Washington students from all racial and ethnic groups to pursue college degrees and certificates if the state hopes to achieve its ambitious goal to increase educational attainment in coming years.

“Washington employers will continue to import skilled workers from other states and countries because we aren’t producing enough college-educated workers to meet their needs,” said HECB Executive Director Don Bennett. “This represents a lost opportunity for our state’s next generation. The new Census figures highlight the importance of making higher education available and affordable to all in our increasingly diverse society.”

Washington’s 2008 Strategic Master Plan for Higher Education called for a 40 percent annual increase in degree production in 10 years to help meet demand for workers with college degrees and certificates.  Reduced state support for higher education due to the recession is one of the reasons the state is falling behind in achieving that goal. The HECB will complete an update of the Strategic Plan later this year.

According to data published in the HECB’s Key Facts about Higher Education in Washington, 49 percent of 2009 Washington high school graduates who were Hispanic or Latino enrolled in college within one year of graduation. That compares to 76 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander graduates, 65 percent of whites, and 47 percent of American Indian/Alaska Natives.

Even so, the state’s changing demographic mix is, to some degree, being reflected on Washington campuses. For example, the percentage of students at public baccalaureate institutions who were white declined nearly 7 percent between 1998 and 2008, while the percentage of Hispanics and Latinos increased 2.7 percent.

Report analyzes economic impacts of CTCs

A new report on the economic impacts of the state’s community and technical colleges concludes that Washington’s 34 CTCs add $11 billion annually to the state economy and generate $1.70 in tax revenue for every state dollar invested.

According to the report, CTC graduates at the midpoint of their careers earn an average $49,000 annually—35 percent more than those with just a high school diploma.

“We’ve always known the significant impact our community and technical colleges have on their local communities and the state,” said Pierce College District Chancellor Michele Johnson in a news release issued today by the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC).  “This study confirms how important community and technical colleges are to Washington’s economy.”

The report was prepared by Economic Modeling Specialists, Inc., based on an economic impact model that has been widely used in studies of colleges in the U.S., Canada and elsewhere.

The full report and supporting documents are available on the SBCTC website.