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Official Home Page of Higher Learning By Nathan Ghiglieri |
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News New York Times (Review) Other Local and State (Review) Education
The Maine Center for Economic Policy (Review) Interest
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The Community College Gap in Maine Higher Education
Local issues generally dominate midterm elections. The November 1998 elections confirmed this trend - with one notable exception. In state after state, voters exiting the polls spoke passionately about their concern for education. Anxiety over education emerged as one of the single great national concerns this election. Here in Maine the candidates focused much attention on the issue of "the two Maine’s." The phrase has become an accepted description of Maine’s economy. In fact, it does describe an unmistakable economic trend, but it is not a trend that most people believe should be tolerated. As we look toward the 21st century, the most important division in Maine is not between North and South. Nor is it between urban and rural. The great dividing line today, and far into the future, is between those with higher education and those who lack the opportunity to obtain it. Education constitutes the great fault line in our State. The highest state budget priority should be support of higher education. No other issue will so determine the future quality of life for our citizens as access to higher education. All the talk about job creation amounts to naught if Maine citizens lack the skills needed for careers in the next millennium. New Education Investments Across the U.S. The level of a state’s commitment to funding education is the best barometer for positive economic change. An incident not too long ago reinforced this point. The Economic Development coordinator of the University of Georgia enthusiastically shared Georgia’s vision of a commitment to education. Georgia, like Maine, was losing its natural resource-based industries to low-cost offshore labor. An entrepreneur seeking to establish a new manufacturing facility asked for a meeting with her to discuss a few issues. At the meeting, the entrepreneur didn’t ask about tax rates or tax credits. He asked to see the state’s budget. What he wanted to know was how much money the state invested in higher education and how this compared to other states in the region. He understood, as many other businesses do, that one of the most critical factors when weighing the decision of where to locate a new venture is the quality of the workforce and, specifically, its education level. Georgia responded by creating the HOPE Scholarship. The HOPE program guarantees college tuition to all Georgia residents for four years. Financed by the state’s lottery, the purpose of the program is to ensure an educated workforce and to stop Georgia’s "brain drain." Created in 1993 with $200 million of lottery proceeds, the program has served over 283,000 students as of 1997. Extraordinarily popular with citizens and businesses alike, the program enjoys increases in appropriations and expanded coverage each year. Georgia’s HOPE scholarship program inspired a host of proposals in 1997 designed to increase access to higher education. At least twelve states adopted merit-based scholarships during the 1998 sessions. Many states added requirements to meet their specific job needs. Kentucky added financial incentives to students to maintain good grades beginning in the 9th grade. Other states added incentives to enter certain fields like teaching and computer science. Almost all states increased their focus on their two-year systems, whether technical colleges or community colleges, seeing this as a critical tool for economic development and as a lower cost provider of higher education. In the 1996 legislative sessions across the country, legislators and governors focused new resources on higher education institutions. For the first time in a decade, state policy makers had funds to invest. They gravitated to education in response to constituent concern and desire for continued economic prosperity. In an era of global competition, employers need well-educated and trainable workers. Policy makers heard that message. Investment in education was the single largest budget driver in fiscal 1999 in most states. Across the country, total general fund spending on college operations will grow by more than 7%. Expenditures on elementary and secondary education, which grew by 6%, followed at a close second. Nearly a third of the states agreed to spend significantly more on construction and renovation of facilities. Governor George Pataki of New York announced $3 billion in construction funds and California voters voted on a $2.5 billion construction program in the November elections. These numbers eclipse past investments. In Maine, voters approved a bond for University capital improvements and the State appropriated money for capital improvements in the technical colleges. In addition to repairing crumbling school buildings, money was dedicated to making college more accessible and more affordable. Maine legislators increased state support for the University by 2% in 1997 and 3% in 1998 with the understanding that tuition increases would not exceed inflation. Maine also increased aid for the Technical College System by the same percentages. Each system also received $250,000 for improvements. Maine’s attempt to enact its own version of the HOPE scholarship program failed. The debate, however, served to enlighten policy makers about the need for affordable college education. For the first time in years, the discussion moved beyond the usual rehash of governance and restructuring to the serious policy issues of access and accountability. Rethinking the services our system of higher education provides and how it delivers them went beyond the traditional debates about whether or not to have a Chancellor or a campus at Fort Kent. To think that this shift signals satisfaction with the status quo would be a critical blunder for any serious student of higher education policy. It would be an equally serious mistake to think that the days of budget surpluses will never end. It is inevitable that the downward cycle will focus on budget cuts rather than expansion. A proactive debate on the intrinsic value of higher education and a restatement of the goals for the next century could not be timelier. A willingness to look at new options that build on existing structures leads us away from the futile treadmill discussions of previous legislatures. A review of Maine’s current economic status sets the stage for critical decision-making by lawmakers. Maine Needs an Educated Workforce A highly skilled and educated workforce is vital to Maine’s long-term economic growth. The level of educational achievement is the most important factor influencing lifelong earning potential. American workers with a bachelor’s degree earned 55% more than their counterparts who had only a high school diploma in 1994, according to the U.S. Census. These same workers earn an average of $1.3 million more in their lifetimes than individuals with only a high school diploma. Another Census Bureau study found that in families where one parent had some education beyond high school, only 4% of the children lived in poverty. About 16% of children live in poverty in Maine. Higher education is essential preparation for productive and well-paid jobs. Research by Postsecondary Education Opportunity finds that state incomes are being redistributed according to the educational attainment of the adult population/workforce. "Thus, a one percent gain in the proportion of a state’s population 25 years and older with a bachelor’s degree adds $686 to state per capita income. Thus, each one percent gain in the proportion of each state’s population 25 and over with a bachelor’s degree adds about 2.7% of state per capita income." Maine Is Lagging Behind New England and the Nation In New England, 30.5% of the population over 25 years of age holds at least a bachelor’s degree but in Maine only 21.5% does. The Maine Economic Growth Council set as a benchmark that Maine should achieve at least the New England average by 2005. The 1998 Council report states: "Higher degrees will be required for jobs of the future and Maine’s population is seriously lacking in attainment of bachelor’s and graduate degrees." Cost, Not Aspirations, Is the Chief Barrier Maine does an excellent job graduating young people from high school. More than 78% of high school students obtained a diploma in 1996. A Finance Authority of Maine study shows that more than 80% of Maine’s 11th graders indicate that they intend to enroll in some form of post-secondary education. Unfortunately, many are unable to follow their aspirations. "Lack of money" was the most frequently cited cause for students changing these plans. Forty-four per cent of parents and 29% of students point to the lack of money as the obstacle to higher education. Incomes Have Not Kept Up with Costs Maine’s average public college tuition is $3,474 per year, 14th highest in the nation. In the last 15 years, in-state undergraduate tuition at the University of Maine System has increased faster than the general rate of inflation. The average annual cost of tuition at a four-year public college is 16.7% of per capita income in Maine. At a two-year college, it is 11.5% of per capita income. These averages are substantially higher than those of comparable states, in part because of Maine’s low per capita income (37th nationally) according to a Rand Corporation study. Policy makers face the daunting task of positioning Maine and its patchwork of higher education institutions into the forefront of change. The first challenge is scarce state dollars and little available private support to make higher education affordable both to young graduates and to those returning to school later in life. This challenge requires leaders to re-examine the delivery system of higher education without falling into the tired old rhetoric. The momentum for change exists. Policy makers must not become bogged down in the old debates that raged in every report or commission on higher education in Maine. Instead, the focus must be on which of those old chestnuts still need attention (like transferring credits) and which should be left in peace (like closing campuses in remote areas). The current emphasis on community colleges and the important role they play in accessibility should not lead us to ignore our current system. Rather, we should turn our energies and passion into wringing from it the benefits of two-year, affordable entry programs that are readily transferable to our four-year institutions. The Education Commission of the States is embarking on a year of dialogue with state policy makers and leaders with the goal of transforming post-secondary education for the 21st century. Its recently published brochure highlights this imperative and outlines a vision for the future. Picture a post-secondary education that serves as a flexible infrastructure for meeting diverse needs in a time of rapid changeY. In such a system, all segments of higher education S community colleges, universities, research institutions, technical training schools S would be focused on working together to stay abreast of changing needs and market demand. Traditional boundaries would give way to new alliances among various segments of the post-secondary system and a stronger sense of partnership with K-12 education. The transformed system would be responsive, flexible, entrepreneurial and accountable. In contrast to today’s highly regulated and centrally managed system, individual institutions would have greater flexibility to define and achieve their missions, with incentives to grow into new markets with new services. Institutions would offer learning programs in a variety of settings and formats: traditional undergraduate and graduate classes, full-time and part-time attendance, on-campus and off-campus, synchronous and asynchronous, traditional degrees as well as new competency-based programs. Policy makers must face the fact that state mandates, regulations and funding formulas stand as major impediments to improving post-secondary education. They provide little incentive for institutions to work together on issues of mutual concern: improvement of lower-division instruction, purposeful growth, and expansion of technology-based education programs. Maine’s Community College Gap In 1998, the Maine Development Foundation convened a task force of state leaders to explore Maine’s current position and future needs in higher education. The group’s understanding of the nexus between educational attainment and economic growth demanded the fostering of such a dialogue. The report’s goals include increasing the number of college-educated Mainers and improving college retention rates. The report placed some focus on the concept of community college. "One of the most noticeable differences between the public higher education system in Maine and in most other states is the absence of a distinct community college system in Maine. In other states, community colleges provide easy access to post-secondary education at a price far less than other institutions. The programs provided by community colleges in other states are offered in Maine through the Maine Technical College System and the University of Maine System. The University of Maine System has recently decided to change the way it delivers these services, reassigning them from the University of Maine at Augusta to the seven campuses." If Maine is to provide access to students of all ages in an affordable and supportive environment, we must develop the community college model within our existing framework. It is simply impractical and cost prohibitive to totally restructure our entire system. Furthermore, it is not necessary. There are good reasons why Maine needs a community college system. First, we should define what we mean by a community college. The community college is defined as any institution accredited to award the associate in arts or science as its highest degree - in other words, two-year programs. The first advantage is that credit hours are more affordable in a community college. This is particularly important in Maine where the cost of higher education is high and often beyond the reach of middle-income families. Our public institutions as now structured cost more than the national legislation envisioned, which is designed to guarantee affordability. The Technical College System, like the University, pays a price for small, widely dispersed campuses. That price is higher tuition. Although the entry point for many Maine students, the tuition rate at the Technical Colleges is $68 per credit hour compared to $41 per credit hour nationally. The first goal, then, of a community college system is to lower tuition rates. Maine policy makers must provide adequate resources to lower these high tuition rates. The second goal for a community college system is to insist that all entities of public higher education work together to create a seamless system for students transferring into four-year programs and people returning for retraining. There can be no higher priority for the leadership of the University and the Technical College than to finally end the needless roadblocks to transferring credits among our public institutions. The most obvious solution for lowering cost, offering a supportive learning environment, and encouraging access is to create a Maine version of the community college system. The political drumbeat has grown louder over the past decade. The Report of the Visiting Committee to the University of Maine, January 1986 found that Maine’s enrollment in two-year programs was about one-half the national average. Although The Technical College programs, the University of Maine at Augusta, the division of Basic Studies at University of Southern Maine, and the Bangor Community College served many community college functions, about 7,000 students were enrolled in one and two-year programs offered by these institutions in 1986. This amounted to 6 students per 1,000 population compared to a national average of 12. One reason for Maine’s comparatively low level of enrollment has been Maine’s failure to develop a community college organization within the University System. "In traditional higher education terminology, community colleges are open admission institutions which offer two-year associate degree programs, make special efforts to serve the needs of older, part-time students, and provide testing, counseling, and remedial servicesY. Given Maine’s traditionally low enrollment in higher education and the importance of community college programs in raising individual aspirations and providing occupationally useful training, this gap constitutes a serious shortcoming in Maine’s system of public higher education." Ten years later The Report of the Commission on Higher Education Governance revisited the issue of two-year programs. In referring to the 1986 Commission’s findings on enrollments in community colleges, the report noted that since 1985 total enrollment in two-year programs had increased from approximately 7,000 to 8,300, a 19% increase. Though this was a positive trend, two other trends were shockingly bad. Maine has the seventh highest tuition for two-year public institutions in the nation. Is it then a surprise to find Maine ranking at the bottom of the states in numbers of its citizens with higher education degrees given Maine’s low per capita income? Only 51% of those wishing to attend the Technical Colleges could do so because of lack of funding from the State to hire enough teachers. Yet the report went on to recommend against the Technical Colleges expanding their mission to offer associate arts degrees because of the competition with the University. The rationale for the recommendation centered on competition for scarce resources and the danger of creating overlapping or duplicative programs. The University and the Technical Colleges were encouraged to continue their efforts to work together. The 1986 Commission saw this same problem a bit differently. To some extent, Maine’s low enrollment in two-year programs reflects the sharing of students between two separate sets of institutions S the University System and the Vocational Technical Institutions. In practice, the distinction between vocational and academic programs has become increasingly less clear. Business today requires technicians who can calculate, speak, write, supervise and most importantly, continue to learn. For this reason, vocational education requires a strong academic component. At the same time, traditional University programs educate their graduates for a wider range of occupations, often through two-year programs. Both the University System and Vocational Technical Institutions compete for the same diminishing pool of students. In short, demographic and economic forces have blurred the traditional distinctions between the two-year programs in the University System and the Vocational Technical Institutions. Maine does not face large growth in population. Even if more adults return to school for retraining and additional education, the numbers do not add up to a major increase of students. If small size and high cost are related, we must think in new ways about how to offer in a more cost-effective way the educational services Maine people need and want. One example to be explored is the sharing of liberal arts curriculum with the technical colleges. Even with increased public and private financial support, our educational institutions cannot be affordable and accessible without seriously changing business as usual. Recommendations and Conclusions Maine must demand that its educational institutions devise a plan for offering low-cost two-year programs to serve as an entry point to higher education. The issue of transferability of credit must be solved once and for all, removing artificial barriers between the Technical Colleges and branches of the University. If Maine is to have a meaningful two-year degree program, holders of that degree should be able to return for a four-year degree without losing credit. Secondary schools in this State must be made accountable for the quality of education given to their students. Too much remedial work is being demanded of post-secondary institutions. Restructuring high school to demand higher standards building on Learning Results is a beginning. The University must continue to utilize and expand technology, offering more courses when appropriate. Maine should strive to be an exporter as well as an importer of degrees. Maine is poised to meet this change in part because of the vision and energy of the leaders of the two institutions that must embrace rather than fear community college partnership plans. The Chancellor of the University, Terrence McTaggert, and the President of the Technical College System, John Fitzsimmons, are both visionaries who see the inevitable changes to their systems as progress. They understand that by sharing their strategic visions they can carve out an even better and more cost-effective way to deliver higher education to all Maine people. They have begun the process of transfer agreements and a strategic plan to coordinate curricula. The Legislature should request from these two leaders an immediate briefing on the progress of these initiatives and determine what, if any, legislation is needed to transform their ideas into realities now. If the University System and the Technical Colleges cannot resolve the transfer of credit issue, the Legislature should no longer tolerate excuses. Although not the most desirable way to change, other states have legislated transferability. The Legislature should consider options like the Maine First Scholars program proposed last session to remove financial barriers to higher education. Policy makers should encourage the use of telecommunications by traditional institutions. Consumers need choice among high quality options over the Internet. There should be a plan to utilize the cost savings attributed to the partnering of the two systems to deliver services in the style of a community college to lower costs, with the goal of making Maine’s tuition more in line with Maine people’s ability to pay. Finally, the community college concept should be the natural focus of the federal and state welfare-to-work programs and job retraining programs designed to retrain displaced workers. In the words of Thomas Jefferson: "We should build
an aristocracy of achievement based on a democracy of opportunity." With
adequate financial support and a community college concept to open the
door for all, Maine can build an educational system that gives its citizens
the opportunity for achievement and advancement through education that
Jefferson envisioned.
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Opinions
A good way to pay Financing education has been a constant problem. My suggestion
would be to legalize marijuana. I not another pothead believing that marijuana
should be legalize in order for me to smoke legal and not get in trouble.
The has been an over crowding in jail due to marijuana crimes and a huge
shortage in funds for education. If marijuana was legal the government
would be able to tax it. The tax money can be used solely to fund education.
The side effect would be less money spent toward jails and police officers
which also could be used toward education. By Nathan
Ghiglieri
Statement of Methods Individual all learn in different ways, some are visual
and other are audio. There are many different types and ways to learn.
Teachers struggle with their lessons everyday, questioning whether it is
the best one and will they affect the most students they can. The struggle
can become extremely difficult. This becomes one of the reasons teachers
get burnt out and stop caring about there students. I am sure that all
of us have had one of these teachers at one point or another. Teachers
need to have information available to them, such as research and case studies.
This research gives teachers new methods and ways to teach to different
learning styles.
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