Annual State Higher Education Finance Report: The State Higher Education Executive Officers Association recently released their annual State Higher Education Finance report. It includes policy decisions affecting higher education funding levels and funding distribution levels both statewide and nationally. Between 2019 and 2020, some of the key findings of the researchers include:
- There was a 0.6% decline in full-time student enrollment, with the declines concentrated in community colleges (even before the impact of COVID)
- Appropriations to higher education institutions increased in 41 states and DC, however the increases have not been large enough to make up for the decline in appropriations during the last two recessions.
- Student financial aid increased by 7%, with 33 states awarding more aid to students attending four-year institutions.
Annual Survey on U.S. Perceptions of Higher Education: New America published their fifth annual survey on American’s perceptions of the value of higher education. Some of the relevant findings include:
- Approximately 80% of respondents believe education after high school offers a good return on investment.
- Over half of the respondents believe the quality of online classes is as good as in-person classes, and the majority of respondents believe online classes should be cheaper.
- 96% of all respondents believe it is important for higher education institutions to provide public data on student outcomes.
- 41% of respondents believe some form of tuition-free college option should be a priority.
New Advocacy Resource for Dual/Concurrent Enrollment and Early College: The first in a series of fact sheets, published by the College in High School Alliance, provides talking points for advocates to use when working with policymakers to highlight the benefits of dual enrollment, concurrent enrollment and early college high school for students, high schools, colleges, the workforce and states. The fact sheet is accompanied by a plain text document that can be adapted or modified to match the purpose of your meeting when advocating.
Informing Policymakers about Quality Credentials: Credential Engine released a new policy brief on actionable steps for state leaders to take to make information about quality credentials more accessible and valuable to policymakers, legislators and/or education leaders. In order to increase the value of credentials and communicate the effectiveness of credentials to policymakers, researchers describe five key components that are needed, including:
- Common definitions of educational outcomes and ways to measure them.
- Consistent language describing the outcomes data that learners, employers and policymakers use to judge the quality of programs.
- Frameworks that provide the tools, resources and measures to gauge quality.
- Platforms and policies that can incentivize programs that provide quality credentials.
- State leaders to align the pieces of this work to serve learners and employers.
A Global Perspective on Microcredentials: Microcredentials are becoming more popular globally and will likely be a large component of postsecondary education world-wide, according to a report from the Nondegree Credential Research Network. The researchers found that the credentials that are particularly in-demand are those in IT, business, cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing and health care programs. The researchers also identify key successes as well as challenges associated with these microcredentialing programs around the world.
Analyzing Student Outcomes in Indiana and Minnesota CTE Programs: The Regional Education Laboratory Midwest, part of the Institute of Education Sciences, examined the education and workforce outcomes of high school graduates in Indiana and Minnesota to determine the outcomes CTE concentrators compared to graduates that did not take these courses. The researchers found:
- Rural students were more likely to be concentrators compared to urban and suburban students.
- Concentrators were more likely to enroll in two-year colleges compared to non-concentrators.
- In the first five years after high school, concentrators were employed at higher rates and had higher earnings compared to students who took fewer CTE courses or non-concentrator students.
Comments