New England Board of Higher Education » Arne Duncan

DC Shuttle: Tuition Rose in 2011 to Make Up for Cuts in State Support; New Tools for College Readiness, Aid

John O. Harney — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:58:20 +0000

State and local spending on higher education fell to an average of $6,290 per full-time student in 2011—its lowest level in 25 years, according to a study released by the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO). Total funding for higher education from state and local sources fell by $1.3 billion between FY2008 at the beginning of the recession and FY2011. During that same time, national student enrollment increased by 12.5%. To compensate for this loss of funding, institutions of higher education increased tuition; per-student tuition revenue climbed to a record $4,774 in 2011. The portion of higher education revenue derived from tuition rose from 23.2% in 1986 to 43.3% in 2011, as colleges became increasingly dependent on tuition to fund their operations. SHEEO policy analyst Andrew Carlson predicted that next year's numbers would continue the trend, with states dropping higher education funding levels and enrollment projected to increase.

On Capitol Hill, Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced a bipartisan bill (S. 2194) on Thursday to create a grant program encouraging schools and nonprofit organizations to establish individual college-readiness tracking systems which low-income students could access online. These profiles would allow counselors, teachers and others to contribute academic and behavioral information which students could track online. The system would also link to a college savings account and provide financial literacy and college preparation information. A spokesperson for Sen. Rubio said the bill represents "a significant step in providing low-income students with the resources and support they need to succeed at a higher education institution." Sen. Coons indicated that Congresswoman Chaka Fattah (D-PA) is planning to introduce a companion bill in the House this week.

The U.S. Education Department released a new tool to help high school administrators monitor their students' Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) submissions and completions. The department collects data on FAFSA submissions by students up to age 18 by state, city and high school, and will release this information for the first time on a public website. Officials plan to update the data every two weeks.

On Tuesday, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced that a total of $54.8 million will be divided between Massachusetts, Minnesota and New Jersey to increase the availability of public charter schools. Massachusetts will receive $3.2 million in the first year of the grant, $5.4 million in the second year, and $3.5 in the final year for a total of $12.1 million under the Charter Schools Program state educational agency (SEA) competition.

As a member of New England Council, we publish the DC Shuttle each week featuring higher ed news from Washington. This edition is drawn from the Council's Weekly Washington Report Higher Education Update, of March 19, 2012.

Founded in 1925, the New England Council is a nonpartisan alliance of businesses, academic and health institutions, and public and private organizations throughout New England formed to promote economic growth and a high quality of life in the New England region. The Council's mission is to identify and support federal public policies and articulate the voice of its membership regionally and nationally on important issues facing New England. For more information, please visit: www.newenglandcouncil.com.

Grad Rates Don’t Tell Full Story of Community College Performance

John O. Harney — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 13:10:52 +0000

Anyone who fixates on graduation rates has little understanding not only of the rich mission and value of our community colleges, but also how deeply flawed and inadequate those rates are as a principal assessment tool for the performance of community colleges.

Graduation rate calculations apply to a small fraction of our entire student population (about 15%). That is because this national measure focuses only on new students and only on those new students who register for a full-time course load. Thus, the graduation rate for Bristol Community College is 19%, the average of the 15 Massachusetts community colleges is 16%, and the national average is 22%. The business leaders who make up our boards of trustees would not tolerate such a dismal performance, if it actually measured community college performance accurately.

What is wrong with the use of graduation rates as the performance indicator for community colleges? We know that about 85% of all community college students work either full- or part-time; consequently, most do not register for a full load of courses. So the majority of our students do not fall into the graduation rate database. Consider, too, that even those entering students who begin full-time study cannot always maintain that ambitious course load. If students remain enrolled, but opt for a reduced course load, they are considered unsuccessful based on the criteria for measuring graduation rates. Similarly, if students excel in their first year and transfer immediately to a four-year institution, they also are marked against the community college that succeeded in preparing them for transfer.

It's more accurate to consider “Student Persistence” and “Student Success” in gauging the effectiveness of community colleges. For example, we have students who, because of their preparatory learning experience, transfer successfully before earning their associate degrees at Bristol. Shouldn’t we be praised for spurring student success instead of being castigated that they did not graduate on an arbitrary time frame? In addition, some of our students for personal reasons (such as employment schedules, child/spouse/parent care, health, finances, etc.), reduce their course load below full-time status. These students continue to persist in their academic pursuits for their degrees. Whether they earn more than 30 credits (the halfway mark to an associate degree) or less, they continue on track despite formidable personal circumstances. Aren’t they to be commended? Shouldn’t the college that makes this possible be seen as a success?

As a response to the terrible distortions about community colleges based solely on graduation rates, a national commission under U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has combined various categories of students to provide a more accurate measure of community college performance. The new national criteria for Student Success and Student Persistence now take into account across a six-year period: 1) student transfers; 2) students who have earned at least 30 credits and either remain enrolled or stop out temporarily; 3) students who have completed less than 30 credits but have not interrupted their studies; and, yes, 4) the traditional graduation rate (which we would never want to eradicate). Under this new cluster of criteria, the Student Success Rate for BCC (and all community colleges) jumps to nearly 80%!

Why do some influential voices continue to carp about community college graduation rates? Their fixation leads me to wonder about their motivation. Instead of celebrating the ability of students to use community college flexibility to fit higher education into their lives, these uninformed critics use our flexibility against us. If you encounter someone describing graduation rates as the only measure—and criticism—of community college performance, take the time to explain the other criteria that provide more accurate information about how well community colleges are really performing.

John J. Sbrega is president of Bristol Community College.

The Community's Colleges (pdf)

Transfer and Other Topics for Community Colleges (pdf)

Are Colleges Ready for Students? (pdf)

Sbrega on Community Colleges and Grad Rates, 2004 (pdf)

History of a Community College (pdf)

DC Shuttle: Obama Moves to Ease Student Loan Debt

John O. Harney — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:29:38 +0000

On Wednesday, President Obama announced a new proposal to ease the burden of student loan debt. The "Know Before You Owe" initiative will allow students with multiple government-backed loans to consolidate them into one loan under the federal Direct Loan program with an interest rate reduction of 0.25% to 0.5%. The administration estimated that about 5.8 million students could be eligible for loan consolidation. The new initiative would also accelerate the easing of income-based loan repayments. Income-based loans restrict repayment to 15% of a student's disposable income; the new initiative would reduce the repayment to 10% in January 2012, rather than 2014, as currently scheduled. In addition, any students with federal student loans in 2012 and at least one of the previous four years would have any remaining debt forgiven after 20 years instead of 25 years under current law. President Obama said that giving student borrowers more money for home ownership, small business startups, or retirement will "give the economy a boost." Education and student advocates hailed the proposal as a boon to the approximately 36 million Americans currently paying off student loans. However, some experts have pointed out that it may not be enough to make up for the doubling of student loan interest rates, set to take effect in July 2012. Read a blog post on the "Know Before You Owe" initiative from Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Domestic Policy Advisor Melody Barnes at the White House website.

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce's Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training held a hearing Tuesday on the Education Department's continuing transition from some bank-based loans to administering 100% of government-backed loans through the federal Direct Loan program. Subcommittee Chair Virginia Foxx (R-NC) cited an Oct. 13 security breach on the Direct Loan Servicing Center's borrower website as evidence that the program is not adequately protecting students' financial and personal information. During the seven-minute breach, users were able to see other borrowers' repayment histories and bank routing numbers. A federal student aid official acknowledged the site disruption as well as other customer service concerns in a notice posted the following day. Student-aid administrators who testified at the hearing noted that their workload has increased since the transition to direct lending, because they are "doing most of the work that customer-service representatives used to do at the banks and guarantee agencies." Office of Federal Student Aid chief operating officer James Runcie enumerated several strategies taken to smooth the transition, including the installment of a "chief customer experience officer" to oversee customer advocacy and protections. He also conceded that student loan default rates have risen since the change, which Chair Foxx attributed to a loss of financial education services for student borrowers. Several of the panel's Democrats credited economic and unemployment factors for the default increase, and argued that the transition has been much smoother than program critics had projected.

From the New England Council's Weekly Washington Report Higher Education Update, Oct. 31, 2011. NEBHE is a member of the Council and publishes this column each week.

DC Shuttle: Duncan Defends Ed Budget Request … and Other Higher Ed News from Washington

John O. Harney — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 23:51:52 +0000

Editor's Note: A reminder that our DC Shuttle column has changed gates. Our news from Washington will now appear in Newslink, rather than the Journal section, of http://www.nebhe.org.

On Wednesday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan defended the department's budget request for FY 2012, including a 10.7% increase over 2011 funding levels, to the Senate Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Labor, HHS, and Education. Duncan highlighted the Pell Grant program's need for increased funding, as the economic downturn has led to a significant expansion in students applying for aid and he "desperately" wants to maintain the current maximum grant level of $5,550. The Education Department has requested $28.6 billion for Pell Grants in FY 2012.

Subcommittee Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R-AL) was wary of allocating additional funds to a program which has been criticized by many Republicans as inefficient and unsustainable. "We cannot continue to throw money at this problem," he said. Secretary Duncan pointed out that the funding bill passed earlier this year already made changes to the program to make it less expensive, and said that the administration has already made "tough choices" in order to rein in Pell Grant costs. Senator Shelby, who is also the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, further questioned the wisdom of continuing to fund the administration's Race to the Top competitive grant program, as it "essentially mandates which interventions should be used by states and local school districts to improve student achievement." The Obama Administration requested $900 million for the program in FY 2012.

Also on Wednesday, the Education Department announced that high schools will use revised, more accurate reporting methods for graduation rates beginning this summer. This marks a shift from the current practice of states each using their own methods to calculate graduation rates. Duncan said that the new standardized data collection "will help target support so more students graduate on-time." He added that the department expects to see a lower, but more accurate, average national graduation rate after the change is implemented.

From the New England Council's Weekly Washington Report Higher Education Update, Aug 1, 2011. NEBHE is a member of the Council and will publish this column each week.

DC Shuttle: White House Meeting with CEOs Spawns New Ed Grants … and Other Higher Ed News from Washington

John O. Harney — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 16:33:36 +0000

Editor's Note: Our DC Shuttle column has changed gates, so to speak. With frequent arrivals of higher ed news from our partner The New England Council, DC Shuttle will now appear in Newslink, rather than the Journal section, of http://www.nebhe.org.

President Obama hosted an education roundtable on July 18 with Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Domestic Policy Chair Melody Barnes and business leaders and CEOs. The meeting culminated in the announcement of several new initiatives, including $50 million from Bank of America to help underserved populations succeed in higher education in high-growth sectors, and $15 million from Microsoft to develop new classroom instruction technologies. America's Promise Alliance, which represents 400 corporations, advocacy and nonprofit groups, is also launching an initiative to raise $50 million to raise high school graduation rates.

Senate HELP Committee Chair Tom Harkin (D-IA) told critics and advocates of for-profit higher education that he is working to include military aid with total federal aid for the purposes of calculating the 90/10 rule. Under the rule, for-profit colleges are restricted from deriving more than 90% of their revenue from the federal government in order to be eligible for federal student aid programs. He also suggested that for-profit colleges are spending too much of their federal funds on advertising rather than instruction. "Should we be looking at how much federal money is being used for marketing?" he asked the panel of witnesses at the Thursday hearing. Several for-profit college presidents suggested that the focus should be on measuring student outcomes rather than how much money is spent on marketing. Senator Harkin praised the suggestion, and said that he "absolutely" intends to apply the standard to all colleges and not just the for-profit sector.

On Thursday, the Departments of Justice and Education announced the launch of a collaborative project to address "the disciplinary policies and practices that can push students out of school and into the justice system." The initiative will bring federal, state, and local education officials together to collaborate on collecting research and developing guidelines for school discipline policies. The announcement came on the heels of a report from the Council of State Governments which found that more than one half of all Texas middle and high school students had been suspended or expelled at least once between the 7th and 12th grades.

From the New England Council's Weekly Washington Report Higher Education Update, July 25, 2011. NEBHE is a member of the Council and will publish this column each week.

DC Shuttle: Debate Over NCLB Reform … and Other Higher Ed News from Washington

John O. Harney — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 16:51:32 +0000

On Thursday, House Education and Workforce Committee Chair John Kline (R-MN) introduced No Child Left Behind (NCLB) reform legislation (H.R. 2445). The bill, which would give states and school districts almost complete control over how they spend federal education funding, is the third in a planned series of five education reform bills from House leadership. Supporters of the measure say that it will free education administrators from unnecessary and burdensome regulation, allowing them to use funding as they see fit. Several Democrats including Committee Ranking Member George Miller (D-CA) have criticized the measure for impeding comprehensive reform discussions and making it "much more difficult to continue in a bipartisan manner to rewrite" NCLB. While both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have agreed that more freedom for states and districts is needed in using federal funds, Education Secretary Arne Duncan warned that the measure "runs the risk of shortchanging students with the greatest needs," by freeing states from federal requirements to serve low-income students and other underserved groups. In contrast with the Committee's last education reform bill, which dealt with expanding charter school programs and was well-received on both sides of the aisle, Congressman Kline conceded that "this one will not be entirely bipartisan as we had hoped that it would be."

Idaho, Montana and South Dakota are rejecting the adequate yearly progress (AYP) benchmarks established by the 2001 NCLB law, according to letters sent to the U.S. Education Department. State officials write that unless Congress passes changes to the much-criticized law, they plan to hold to the 2009-10 targets rather than proceed through the law's stair-stepped yearly targets which culminate at 100% proficiency by 2014. In this way, they hope to reduce the number of schools which are judged "failing" by the law's more rigorous standards and lose federal funding. An Education Department spokesperson responded to the letters on Tuesday, noting that the agency has already proposed a "Plan B" which would "offer relief in exchange for reform to states who desperately want flexibility from NCLB's broken provisions" in the event that Congress does not finish work on the law before the beginning of the 2011-12 school year.

From the New England Council's Weekly Washington Report Higher Education Update, July 11, 2011. NEBHE is a member of the Council and will publish this column each week.

Ed Secy Duncan Urges States and Districts to Drive Achievement and Increase Grad Rates as they Trim

John O. Harney — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 21:10:21 +0000

Citing the “new normal” and impending budget cuts, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan urged state leaders to boost student achievement despite dwindling resources.

"There is a right way and a wrong way to cut spending, and the most important guiding principle I can offer is to minimize the negative impact on students and seize this opportunity to redirect your spending priorities," Duncan warned during a national media call.

President Obama and leading foundations have called for dramatically increasing college U.S. degree production. However, current economic and political pressure suggest the goal will have to be accomplished with fewer resources.

The Education Department released several documents to help guide state policymakers. One provides specific examples of states and districts leveraging local partnerships and resources, promoting the use of technology and changing teacher and principal compensation systems to reward excellence.

For more, on degree productivity, see NEJHE articles “Making It Real” by Jane Wellman, director of the Delta Project on Postsecondary Education Costs, Productivity, and Accountability, and “Putting Money Where the Mouth Is” by Dennis Jones, president of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems.