A Sense of Urgency
Jamie P. Merisotis, President, Lumina Foundation for Education
Closing Plenary Luncheon—American Council on Education Annual Meeting, Washington, DC
Feb. 10, 2009
Thank you. And thanks for inviting me here today. It's good to be back on what used to be my home turf. As Molly mentioned in her very kind introduction, I lived and worked here in DC for many years as founding president of the Institute for Higher Education Policy, which continues to wear its non-partisan banner proudly under new and vibrant leadership. In the early 1990s, I also served as executive director of a bipartisan federal commission, appointed by the President and Congressional leadership, back when bipartisan meant something more than three Senators from one political party finding common ground with their colleagues across the aisle.
It's especially exciting to return to our nation's capital, as a new administration settles in and change begins to take shape. There's a lot of energy right now, as I'm sure you've experienced over the course of this important conference. There's also a truly palpable sense of urgency.
That feeling of urgency involves us all—as well it should. As a nation, we face huge challenges; and at the same time, we see tremendous opportunities. I want to talk about both today ... and about the critical role that higher education must play in addressing those challenges and seizing those opportunities.
Before I get too far into my topic, however, you may have noticed that in the advance billing for this conference, this closing plenary promised a tag-team of speakers. As you've noticed, my colleague and friend Hilary Pennington of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation could not be with us. So you're stuck with just me. ... I'll leave it to you to decide whether that represents a challenge or an opportunity. If it helps, I'll make two promises: First, I promise not to talk twice as long just because Hilary couldn't make it. Second, in the question-and-answer period, I'll make note of all of the hard questions ... and refer them later to Hilary.
Actually, though I'm just joking about dodging your questions, I'm quite sure that Hilary and I will talk again soon—because the work of our respective foundations is very much in accord. As you heard from TIAA-CREF President and CEO Roger Ferguson yesterday, Lumina and Gates recently have made separate, public commitments to very similar social goals. At Gates, the goal is to "double the number of low-income students who earn postsecondary degrees or credentials by age 26." At Lumina, our goal is this: "By the year 2025, we want to increase the percentage of Americans with high-quality degrees and credentials from 39 percent to 60 percent."
Clearly, these are ambitious targets. In fact, we at Lumina actually call ours "The Big Goal." Just as clearly, as our organizations pursue their respective goals, we're likely to find points of connection—areas of common interest where our agendas intersect and partnerships are mutually beneficial. In fact, that is happening. We already are working together in several areas, and those partnership efforts are likely to intensify in the coming months and years.
For instance, both organizations recognize the critical role community colleges play in serving low-income students and have been making sizable, long-term investments in increasing student success at community colleges. Both also have made a commitment to extending the reach and improving the effectiveness of developmental education.
Both foundations support efforts to beef up higher education data systems and increase their interactivity and usefulness as a management tool for higher education leaders and policymakers.
And, finally, Gates and Lumina both seek to encourage public policy that enhances degree completion. We share this commitment to effective policy advocacy because we know that the best ideas cannot be broadly applied without policy change.
Of course, Gates and Lumina are very different organizations with independent agendas. True, our goals for increasing degree attainment are very much aligned. But that doesn't mean that we are committed to implementing identical strategies or that we use the same approaches to achieve those goals ... and that's a good thing. Let's face it: Our shared mission—the mission we all share here today—is a challenging one. It's a battle that must be fought on several fronts, using every available weapon.
And it very well could be a defining battle in this nation's history. ... I mean that sincerely. Higher education has always been an important rung on the socioeconomic ladder in this country. But it's more than that now. In today's ever-changing global economy, postsecondary education is critical to individual success and the nation's continued prosperity and social stability.
At no time could the value of a college degree be more obvious than it is today. Here and around the world, there is a growing gap in earnings based on education levels. In 29 of 30 developed nations, the wage gap is widening between people who have completed some form of postsecondary education and those who have not. Since 1975, the average income of American high school graduates has fallen in real terms by 1 percent, while that of college graduates has increased by 19 percent. This is clear evidence that the national demand for college degree holders is outstripping the supply.
And as Americans face the most challenging economic conditions since the 1930s, a college education could very well be a citizen's most important possession. In recent weeks, noted economist Tony Carnevale and his colleagues at the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce have been looking closely at the economic stimulus bills now making their way through Congress. Their preliminary analysis shows that approximately two-thirds of the jobs created by the stimulus package will require some form of postsecondary education, including degrees and credentials. That percentage increases even more if you take into account the certification programs and extended job training that many workers will need—and that colleges and universities often will provide.
In other words, the educational bar already has been raised for those who hope to hold the jobs of tomorrow. And to complicate things further: Growing numbers of students who must clear that bar—the nation's underserved students—already face daunting challenges. The math is inescapable: For the United States to even come close to reaching the goal of 60 percent degree attainment, achievement rates among the nation's underserved students will have to rise dramatically. The process of preparing students for an education beyond high school, getting them into college and helping them stay through graduation is essential to our collective well-being. And this is especially true for traditionally underserved students—those in groups that represent a rapidly growing percentage of the nation's population. Closing the achievement gap isn't just the right thing to do, it's also the smart thing to do. As I like to say about the work we all share: It's not just nice ... it's necessary.
And it's not just about money. When we say higher education has become the only reliable path into the middle class, this has implications far beyond mere earnings potential. We all know that higher education can transform lives and improve society. College matters; it's that simple. Statistics show that college degree holders earn more, save more and produce more in their lifetimes. They're happier, healthier, and they even live longer. They pay taxes; they're more likely to vote, volunteer, give blood, support charity, and take on leadership roles in their communities.
Clearly, the benefits of college are wide-ranging. Conversely, the consequences of not earning a degree are increasingly dire and increasingly likely to affect those from groups that today are grossly underrepresented in college or face particular challenges—low-income students, students of color, first-generation students, working adults. That's why—unless we want demography to dictate destiny—we must find ways to ensure that every American has the opportunity to succeed in higher education.
And that means, quite simply, that business as usual is no longer a viable option in American higher education. Change is vital if we hope to reverse the nation's disturbing economic trend and position our citizens for success in the global economy.
We at Lumina have no doubt that the American people can meet the challenge. And we believe strongly that the nation's higher education system can and should be Americans' most important ally in that effort. In fact, we communicated those ideas recently in a memo to President Obama's transition team. In that December memo, Lumina offered to partner with the federal government, states, employers, labor, our peer organizations in philanthropy, the higher-education community—and with all who are committed to increasing college access and success. We also laid out four basic policy efforts that we feel should be pursued at a national level.
Our first suggestion to the Obama team, and probably the most sweeping: Make the development of human capital a cornerstone of U.S. economic policy. To do this, we as a nation must significantly increase the production of high-quality college degrees, make postsecondary education more responsive to workforce needs, and expand college opportunities for adult learners. One way to accomplish all of these things—and a strategy that we at Lumina have long pursued—is to bolster the nation's community colleges in their efforts to improve their students' success rates. President Obama said as much in a speech he delivered yesterday in Indiana, when he said that we need to encourage "high-wage, high-value work" through investment in community colleges and other forms of advanced training.
Another important part of this task is to expand opportunities for adult and other nontraditional learners—not only in two-year institutions, but across the higher education landscape. Lumina and ACE are working together on one such project in this area: a new national project that will help colleges and universities better meet the educational needs of military personnel. It's important work that will benefit hundreds of thousands of veterans and their families—but it barely scratches the surface when considering the need for adult-learning options. In the growing economic crisis, as more workers lose their jobs, programs that support retraining and skill development will become increasingly vital. Such programs will need to become more numerous, more flexible, and more responsive to the needs of employers and returning students.
The second policy effort mentioned in the memo: Make sure that every child is prepared for success in postsecondary education. This means that K-12 standards must align with those at the college level. Also, students and families must get all of the information they need to plan for college success, and they must get that information early—before eighth grade.
At Lumina, we are focused on pre-college preparation through our partnership with ACE in the national KnowHow2GO campaign. This effort is showing good results in helping young teens and their families take the steps that will lead them to college. Still, before KnowHow2GO can reach its full potential, many more colleges and universities must participate—and so I urge you to involve your own institution in KnowHow2GO's network of locally based organizations that provide college-access information.
The third policy effort: Define student outcomes for postsecondary education, including expectations for completion and learning. Remember, when I stated Lumina's Big Goal, it wasn't just about quantity. Our target of 60 percent attainment specifies "high-quality" degrees. We're not content to increase the number of degree holders by the quickest and simplest means possible. That's a fool's exercise. As the subprime mortgage mess has shown us with brutal clarity, there's a very important difference between perceived worth and genuine value. Our students need degrees that have—and can demonstrate—real value. That's why a focus on learning outcomes must go hand in hand with our efforts to improve retention and graduation rates.
At Lumina, we believe it's vital that institutions define high-quality learning outcomes in clear, measurable ways. Such information is important for students and institutions, of course. But it's also vital for others, including employers, who need a clear understanding of what skills and knowledge to expect from a student who completes a certain course of study.
We also believe that other countries have something to teach us in this regard. No nation or group of nations has a model of higher education that can be replicated in our unique context. At the same time, it is increasingly clear that we must learn from both the successes and failures of other nations that appear to be going farther, faster than we seem currently capable. At Lumina, we are working on a pilot project that we expect to launch this spring that will explore some of Europe's practices. Our objective is to test some of these lessons in a small number of U.S. states to better understand how to define and articulate the value of a degree in ways that incorporate the perspectives of faculty members, students, employers, and graduates.
The fourth and final suggestion we offered to the Obama team: Approach college affordability in new ways. To do this, we must increase support for need-based grant aid significantly, as we are seeing in both versions of the stimulus bills. We also must dramatically simplify the financial aid process, and we must use tax policy to support more students—exploring mechanisms such as progressive 529 savings plans that target low- and moderate-income students and their families. Such subsidized savings programs could, over time, redefine what we mean by "self-help" and reduce the significant burdens associated with student loan debt.
Clearly, it will be important to see additional public funding made available to higher education institutions. Lumina supports that—at the federal level and in virtually every state. But we also know that money will be especially tight in coming years, particularly as the economic recession tightens its grip.
We believe that there is another important way to improve college affordability, and that is to boost institutional productivity by increasing both efficiency and effectiveness. In fact, we at Lumina believe such efforts are indispensible if we hope to reach our goal of 60 percent degree attainment. We know that goal is very ambitious. In fact, to achieve it, this nation will have to produce 16 million more degree holders than are expected at the current 39 percent rate.
To get there, we will need to work harder—and faster—than we've been working so far, focusing on both increasing our productivity and clearly demonstrating how and why we are using resources effectively and efficiently. There's that word again: productivity. It sounds so ... businesslike, so "bottom line"-oriented. I doubt it's one you automatically associate with the values that drew you to a career in higher education. And yet, productivity is not inconsistent with the ambitious ideals and goals of the academic life. In fact, I would argue that it is a vital means to realizing those goals.
It all starts with data: collecting, measuring and analyzing data to help show the way. At Lumina, we believe compiling and analyzing the right data are essential to improving higher education. Every institution needs to track some basic things such as enrollment, progression and completion of students by race/ethnicity, income and age. Every institution should define and report learning outcomes in a manner that allows the value added by institution to be easily discerned. These systems should permit cross-state tracking and analyses. Data that show how institutions are performing should be public and broadly disseminated. Taking these steps will allow us to more precisely measure productivity gains.
Of course, we are acutely aware of the fear that calls for increased productivity will dilute the quality of higher education or result in a one-size-fits-all approach to college. You may very well harbor these fears yourself. But such fears aren't always well-founded.
In fact, model programs all over the country have shown that containing costs and improving efficiency can be an effective strategy for serving greater numbers of students. Examples of these programs abound:
- the course-redesign efforts by the National Center for Academic Transformation
- the California State University system's college-readiness exam that gives high school juniors a clear picture of where they stand
- the proficiency exam program that enables students in the Florida Community College system to test out of certain courses and graduate faster
- the system-wide cost-containment efforts that helped the University of Maryland system hold in-state tuition steady for several years.
So there are new and better ways for colleges and universities to do what they do—innovative and cost-efficient methods that serve students well, meet immediate workforce needs, and address the nation's broader societal and economic concerns. And more new ideas are sure to emerge in response to current economic pressures. I urge you to be mindful of these new ideas, promote their existence, adopt them where you can and share them with other institutions.
We at Lumina believe the time is absolutely right to pursue new ideas, to take bold steps. Certainly, the need is urgent. There are millions of students who want and deserve every chance to succeed—and we as a nation very much need them to succeed.
Clearly, it won't be easy to take bold steps, given current economic realities. But if the challenges of prior economic slowdowns have taught us anything, it's that the absence of new money can prompt or enable new action that wouldn't otherwise be possible. So, I hope you'll view the current fiscal climate as an opportunity to develop and implement visionary approaches on your campuses. In fact, I bet you're already doing that—and I look forward to hearing about some of those approaches today and in the near future. After all, part of our role at Lumina Foundation is to help communicate good ideas, to help them spread so that the student-success mission is more broadly shared.
At Lumina, we are driven by that mission because we believe higher education carries a fundamental power to change lives, drive the economy, and benefit society. Those are transcendent ideals, and they have compelled us to commit ourselves to that ambitious goal of 60 percent attainment of high-quality two- and four-year degrees among the U.S. population. Obviously, this is not a goal we can reach alone. We need your help and your commitment, and we need to work together.
A few weeks ago, our new president asked us all to embrace what he calls "a new era of responsibility," reminding us that "we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world." For those of us who work in the higher education arena, I believe those words should sharpen our focus—and yes, in some cases, even shift it. Those words call us to become truly student-centered in all that we do. They remind us that we work, not in service to an institution ... or to a board of trustees ... or even to a group of alumni. We work to serve students—and the larger society that those students must build and maintain.
As the theme for this year's annual meeting so aptly points out, what we need is collective foresight, the ability to look beyond ourselves—together—toward a day when every American has the opportunity to succeed in higher education. And then we must work hard to make that day happen.
At this pivotal moment in our nation's history, the decisions that are made by leaders in this city—today, this week, and in the coming weeks and months—are likely to have a profound effect on our nation's economic, social, and cultural well-being. May they—and we—show the collective foresight and duty of purpose to recognize that higher education is at the core of our nation's prosperity and that the wise investment of resources will benefit every student—and thereby pay dividends that we will all share for many generations to come.
Thank you very much.
Board