Despite the growing popularity of work-based learning, this report from New America says the community college and workforce development fields need greater transparency and clarity on the design of these programs to broaden workforce pathways, ensure the transferability of exemplary program models, and support the advancement of equitable outcomes for all students, especially learners from historically underserved and underprivileged backgrounds.
Government funding for public universities has dramatically decreased. In real terms, states have collectively scaled back their annual higher education funding by $7 billion during the past decade. Meanwhile government-funded grants and loans have not kept pace with increases in the price of tuition over the past 10 years. However, according to this survey's findings, 34 percent of U.S. adults think government funding for public colleges and universities has stayed the same over the past decade, while 27 percent think it has increased. At the same time, 44 percent of U.S. adults think government aid for college and universities has fallen behind the price of tuition.
The United States will be unable to meet its higher education goals without changing the way it funds public colleges and universities, says a new report from Complete College America. Current funding models do not sufficiently advance fully scaled improvements, the report states. Instead, today’s models create unfunded mandates: Colleges are required to increase completion rates, but they do not receive essential funding until after improvements make an impact.
Seventeen months have passed since the murder of George Floyd moved millions of protesters into the streets to demand action, renewing the nation’s focus on race, equity, and systemic oppression. During this time, we have witnessed unprecedented commitments related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice from organizations spanning nearly every sector imaginable. In philanthropy, many foundations shifted their grantmaking strategies to center equity, while others launched new initiatives to change the paradigm of power within communities of color or other historically under-resourced groups.
With declining enrollment, pressing state workforce needs, tightening state budgets, and persistent equity gaps in student outcomes, the stakes for community colleges have never been higher. Too many community colleges aren’t reaching their potential to improve lives and local economies, and the way they are funded is a big part of the problem.
Two years ago, the Community College Research Center published a guide to help college leaders understand the costs involved in implementing guided pathways reforms. The guide was based on research at six community colleges, but only one of these was a smaller college. Small colleges lack economies of scale that can generate revenue to support investments in technology, staff training, and release time for staff to participate in reforms. And implementing guided pathways at small colleges means that many faculty and staff need to take on new roles to plan and manage the process.
In 2008, the nation experienced one of the most severe economic downturns in its history, surpassed only by the Great Depression. In response, the federal government created the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program. It offered nearly $2 billion in grants to help unemployed workers secure living-wage jobs. The U.S. Department of Labor invited the nation’s nearly 1,000 community colleges to apply for TAACCCT grants and use them to fund integrated education and workforce development programs.
Lumina Foundation’s senior vice president and chief policy officer wrote those words in a piece released almost a year ago, as Lumina replenished its Racial Justice and Equity Fund with $15 million. Despite and because of everything that has happened within the past year, we remain hopeful and even more deeply committed to racial justice and equity. Those terms are not mere buzzwords. They have specific, deep meaning that drives our actions. Racial equity is achieved when race or ethnicity no longer predict the outcomes in people’s lives. And justice results when policies, practices, and causes of inequity have been eliminated.
Federal emergency dollars for colleges and universities provide a generational opportunity – not only to respond to the pandemic, but to reimagine how institutions support current and prospective students. This is especially true for those who know that college can be helpful but aren’t sure how to fit it into their complex lives.
New research emerging from a recent project led by the National Association of System Heads provides some useful insights into how, even during the enormous challenges of this pandemic moment, we can assure both equity and quality as we seek to grow the number of people with learning beyond high school.