NEWS | October 2006
This page includes all articles in the October issue of NEWS. Return to summary of articles.
Ranking first in graduation rates
Participate in the Learnmore search for solutions
Spellings report triggers discussion accountability and privacy
Voting your support for higher education
From “10 Reasons Minnesota needs private colleges”
BRIEFS
Ranking first in graduation rates
Minnesota’s private colleges have the highest graduation rates in Minnesota. Two-thirds of full-time, first-time students (63 percent) at Minnesota Private College Council (MPCC) institutions graduate in four years. This is more than twice the rate of University of Minnesota students (29 percent) and more than four times the rate of MnSCU students (15 percent). By the sixth year after enrollment, 72 percent of MPCC first-time, full-time students have completed their degrees compared to 47 percent and 56 percent of their MnSCU and University of Minnesota peers respectively.
The MPCC graduation rate performance is even more impressive given that more than 25 percent of private college students come from families with incomes less than $50,000—about the same proportion as at the state’s public four-year colleges and universities. Furthermore, MPCC institutions enroll a higher percentage of Pell Grant recipients as a share of all undergraduate students than the University of Minnesota.
Institutional graduation rates serve as a performance measure for students and families. The rate at which full-time students complete their degrees can be an indirect indicator of the vitality of campus life, the availability of programs and courses and access to and quality of student services. The graduation rate also may serve to measure how well an institution recruits students who fit with the institution’s mission and will succeed on campus.
Keep in mind that consideration of composite graduation measures must not be punitive to those students needing both extra time and extra resources. Evaluation of graduation rates must take into account other measures including student transfer rates, institutional mission and programs and student and family circumstances.
Institutional graduation rates also should serve as important performance measures for taxpayers, students and families. During the 2004-2005 fiscal biennium, the state spent $2.5 billion from the general fund on higher education; 86 percent went to the public systems. The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campus recently announced its new graduation rate goals: a four-year rate of 60 percent, a five-year rate of 75 percent, and a six-year rate of 80 percent – rates that surpass the current performance of MPCC member colleges.
Students and families contemplating enrollment in institutions with low graduation rates may want to consider whether:
- Delays in graduation indicate a lack of student services or course offerings;
- A large number of students will transfer to other institutions to obtain the degree they seek; and
- Delaying graduation will increase student costs through increased educational borrowing, other financial sacrifices or delayed income, in addition to tuition, fees, books, transportation and other course related costs.
Choosing a lower priced institution should be balanced with the odds of actually completing a degree on time.
For Minnesota’s economy, institutional graduation rates are an important indicator for monitoring workforce development. The Minnesota Private College Research Foundation calculated in 2004 that if current higher education participation and completion rates do not improve, Minnesota will be producing 3,100 fewer college graduates by 2012-13. Our failure to produce a robust supply of skilled workers will hinder economic development for the state.
The U.S. also is failing at getting students to complete their education. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 2006) notes that high school and college graduation rates in the U.S. “are now both below the OECD average. Projecting these trends forward 10 years would see the U.S. share of the OECD-wide pool of highly qualified people fall from 41 percent to 36 percent.”
Ensuring student access and choice should not translate into poor system performance. The failure to make this distinction will cost both students and the state greatly.
Participate in the Learnmore search for solutions
The Learnmore Web site that launched in September is a one-of-a-kind resource for anyone wanting to learn more about how we can all help our children and our state to flourish. In addition to promoting discussion, Learnmore aims to identify new solutions to ensure that more Minnesota students succeed in school and pursue higher education.
These solutions can come from anywhere. Do you know of a program or organization that has come up with an innovative response to the education challenges? Have you discovered a useful resource or observed a success in your community? We invite you to send us a note to share the solutions you have worked on or come across. You can help us grow the Learnmore Your Solutions and Success Stories pages.
Learnmore is the result of an informal alliance of citizens convened by the Minnesota Private College Council representing business, education, service groups and others who are concerned about our state’s future. With rapidly changing demographics and increasing global competition, Minnesota employers will soon need more college-educated hires than the state will produce. While various trends are involved, one fact is particularly stark: too many of our students fail to complete high school, let alone pursue post-high-school education options. Visit Learnmore to find out more about the challenges and join in the discussion and search for solutions.
Spellings report triggers discussion accountability and privacy
In late-September U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings released a much leaked report summing up the thinking of her Commission on the Future of Higher Education, which offered a variety of irrefutable recommendations. However, there has been controversy over how best to achieve the accountability that all parties, including higher education institutions, want to advance. On this front, it appears the Secretary is inclined to focus on creating a new national computer database to track students. Given the valid concerns that students and families have about privacy, suggestions have been made about how this can be pursued by other means. This discussion of how best to achieve the goal of increasing accountability in higher education is spilling out into the general media.
While very critical of the performance of U.S. institutions of higher education, the Spellings report fails to provide a much needed blueprint for national policy to keep our national higher education enterprises competitive for the next decade. The report does not address the real needs of students and their families, critically important workforce needs, the need for a comprehensive strategy for national investment in basic research and a national strategy for rebuilding our knowledge of other cultures and languages. The report also fails to mention the $14 billion in cuts to student aid which Secretary Spellings sought and Congress approved last winter.
Voting your support for higher education
Higher education is a prominent topic this election season. There are a variety of proposals and positions to compare. For anyone reviewing what they hear from policymakers, one issue is at the root of most differences: how we share higher education costs among students, families, institutions and state and federal government.
Tuition and fees have gone up at all colleges and universities, but the amount of need-based aid from the state and federal government has gone down. Institutions, including the 17 members of the Minnesota Private College Council (MPCC), have shouldered an increasing share of costs in recent years, but their contributions have limits. Students and families — especially those in low- and middle-income brackets — feel the greatest pinch. The state can best provide relief by focusing on need-based aid through the State Grant Program. For students at Minnesota’s public and private colleges, the average State Grant fell 14 percent, in constant dollars, over the last five years (73,000 students currently receive this aid).
Consider a Minnesota family with an annual income of $60,000 and their son, Joe, in college. Under current State Grant Program guidelines, Joe would receive an estimated grant of just $1,700 to attend the University of Minnesota or an MPCC institution. By increasing the budget allocation to the State Grant Program, more aid would be available to help families like Joe's pay for college.
Our state has received national attention for its progressive public policy around access and affordability in higher education. It is up to Minnesotans to show their continued support for such policies. Need-based aid through the State Grant Program is the most efficient way to target limited state resources because it focuses on those who need them most: students in low- and middle-income families.
When evaluating candidates’ higher education platforms, it is important to look at their policies from many perspectives:
- How do they propose to distribute the costs and subsidies?
- Who benefits the most from their proposals?
- What are their positions on the value and importance of higher education?
- How do they view their office’s role and responsibility in supporting education and student achievement?
- What are their priorities for improving higher education?
Providing strong support for higher education is vital to our state’s future. Targeting relief to those who need it the most with need-based aid makes good policy sense. Look for MPCC policy recommendations for the 2007 Legislative Session in the November newsletter.
From “10 Reasons Minnesota needs private colleges”
Reason 1: Enabling Student Success
- Sixty-three percent of our bachelor’s degree-seeking students graduate within four years and 72 percent graduate within six years — the highest rates in the state.
- Our students earned 8,802 bachelor degrees — about one-third of all baccalaureate degrees in the state — and 4,101 graduate degrees.
BRIEFS
The new report, College Access Matters, provides information about promising practices, gaps in services and opportunities for greater investment … Hamline University’s “Big Foot: Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. A Step-by-Step Guide to Shrinking Your Environmental Footprint,” is a finalist for the world’s top environmental multimedia award – the Panda Award…St. Olaf received a $500,000 four-year grant, “Encouraging Careers in the Mathematical Sciences,” from the National Science Foundation…the fourth annual Private College Scholars at the Capitol event will be on February 14, 2007… Hamline University has been named to the first President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for extraordinary volunteer efforts in serving Gulf Coast communities devastated by Hurricane Katrina.