According to panelist Margaret Clancy, director of the College Savings Initiative at Washington University’s Center for Social Development, it is not enough anymore for K – 12 students to be financially “literate.” To break the cycle of college-going rates being so directly tied to demographics, said Clancy, we must as a nation concentrate on a broader goal of financial “capability.”

Financial “capability,” in Clancy’s view, is both a step beyond financial literacy and a leap beyond simply having the wherewithal to pay for whatever bills may come one’s way.

“One cannot achieve financial capability without first having achieved financial literacy,” said Clancy. “But financial capability also means having access to safe financial products that are accessible, affordable and easy to use. This access constitutes a certain financial inclusion that allows a young person, and their parents, to be confident that they can achieve their life dreams, without going broke in the process.”

Clancy’s call for financial capability offered a ray of hope in an otherwise disquieting session that focused on the many barriers to college attainment in the U.S., and the very low high school graduation rate that squeezes the college pipeline before it reaches the end of 12th grade.

Striking in the clarity of his remarks on the challenges in the K – 12 system was panelist Dan Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, the single largest group of individuals who run public schools and school systems across the country.

“If financial literacy is a necessary step on the path to financial capability,” then we have a real problem,” said Domenech, a former superintendent himself with more than three decades of experience in K – 12 education. “While most teachers are familiar with the term ‘financial literacy,’ their own personal knowledge of it is not well-defined, nor do they rate themselves highly on either the topic itself or their ability to teach it.”

A third panelist, Angela Baier, chief marketing officer of Colorado-based College Invest, added that more than three-fourths of parents in the Rocky Mountain State acknowledge that they are their children’s primary source of personal finance education.

However, Baier said, Colorado parents also note that they feel “less prepared to give their teens advice about investing than they do about sex.”

(Full disclosure: I was the fourth panelist at this event, and I feel ill-prepared to talk to my teens about either investing or sex.)

What is the level of “financial capability” in your family? What is your view on how this problem can be addressed by all the stakeholders in higher education, including parents?

Anthony Rosado was in the National Honor Society when he graduated from the Rochester City School District. Now a freshman at Monroe Community College, Rosado, a young Latino male, says he knows he’s bucking the odds.

“I was seeing others around me – my friends – and they made some bad decisions,” he says. “Most of them aren’t here today. I learned from that.”

Rosado, who is planning a career in broadcasting, enrolled in “Doorway to Success,” a program that MCC offers to incoming African American and Hispanic male students. It begins with an orientation to college life, but the meat of the program is an ongoing peer-based support system intended to prevent the young men from either dropping out or flunking out in their first year.

There are dozens of theories about why colleges have difficulty attracting and retaining minority students, especially young males – everything from the students not wanting to be perceived as “acting white,” to campus culture shock. But college admissions counselors have found that many of these students have something in common. Sometimes referred to as “underserved” students, they’re capable of college-level work even though they didn’t perform well in high school. And a support system helps them adjust and to stay in college.

The African American and Hispanic male students in MCC's Doorway to Success program support each other, says Albert Simmons. PHOTO BY JEFF MARINI

For example, African American and Hispanic males frequently face a challenging first year in college. Anywhere from 30 to 40 percent won’t return for their sophomore year, compared to the national average of 15 to 17 percent for the general population, according to a number of different studies.

MCC’s Doorway to Success program provides career guidance, counseling, financial aid assistance, and assists in setting goals. Adult males of color provide much of the support in group and individual settings.

“I am the male of my household, and I am going to be the first person in my family to graduate from college,” Rosado, 18, says. “It just didn’t work out for the others who have been here before me.”

Rosado wants to set an example, he says, for his younger brothers. He knows the temptations and risks they face, he says, and he wants them to have opportunities for success.

“I have to set the bar high,” he says. “I have to do this for them.”

Albert Simmons readily admits that he was one of those kids that his friend Anthony Rosado describes.

Anthony Rosado, a freshman at MCC, wants to be the first member of his family to graduate from college. PHOTO BY JEFF MARINI

“I dropped out of high school,” Simmons, 37, says. “It wasn’t that I couldn’t learn; I just didn’t apply myself. I was one of those kids who made those bad decisions.”

At least one of those decisions was so bad it landed Simmons in prison, he says. But the MCC sophomore is now planning to finish his education at SUNY Brockport and to pursue a career in social work.

Rosado and Simmons are Doorway to Success peer leaders. They assist other students in the program with everything from finding their way around campus to helping them change classes. They appreciate the emphasis the program places on supporting male students because, they say, it helps to keep them focused. And they can speak more freely among their male peers, they say, about common life experiences and challenges.

“We all support each other,” Simmons says. “We want the same success for each other that we want for ourselves. And we want it to go beyond here and into our futures, so we can continue to help each other out.”

In its second year, Doorway to Success, which was modeled after a similar program at New York’s City College, is still a work in progress. It may be too soon to say how much of an impact the program is having, says Ann Topping, MCC‘s dean of students.

MCC data shows, however, that six percent more students from the Doorway to Success program – compared to those who didn’t enroll – returned in the 2009 fall semester from the prior spring semester. Topping expects that number to increase as the program is refined and becomes better known. Offering programs like Doorway to Success, she says, is another way to attract students to the college. It says to students that the college is relevant, she says, and recognizes their needs.

Increasing support systems for students during their first four semesters greatly improves student performance, says Ann Topping, MCC's dean of students. PHOTO BY JEFF MARINI

State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky recently announced increased funding for these types of programs. Similar to Doorway to Success, many use some form of mentoring to improve retention rates for minority students at risk of not making it through their first year.

Roberts, who wants to become a lawyer, says her transcripts weren’t perfect. But she knew she could do college-level work.

“I think it’s very important for students who come from situations like I do to have this kind of opportunity,” she says. “I worked all throughout high school. That wasn’t an option because my family needed my help. But my grades suffered a little.”

Roberts has never considered dropping out of college. But she says she understands why college is challenging for so many of her African American and Hispanic male peers.

Some of the challenges are more easily addressed than others, says Sean Bennett, director of RIT’s North Star Center for Academic Success and Cultural Affairs.

“Sometimes they may be in the top of their class, but they may not be at the same level as their college peers because they weren’t exposed to the same resources,” he says.

Minority male students are less likely to know how to work together in teams, Bennett says.

“They are slow to get engaged and they tend to sit on the sidelines too long,” he says.

Students in community colleges face an even tougher challenge. Since most of those students do not live on campus, many young African American and Hispanic males find themselves torn between two worlds. In one instance, says MCC’s Topping, a Doorway to Success peer leader saw one of his students on a neighborhood street corner. Concerned, the peer leader approached him.

“The student wouldn’t even acknowledge him,” Topping says. “He just didn’t feel like he could.”

The report, called Race Matters Impact of the 2010-2011 Executive Budget Proposals, seeks to show how cuts to state programs would fall disproportionately on ethnic and racial minorities. It also proposes possible solutions to fill the budget gap.

Bob Cohen, policy director for the Public Policy and Education Fund, and an author of the report, said although all the cuts mentioned in the report have an impact on ethnic and racial inequalities, the most drastic effects would be felt in the area of schools and education.

The Public Policy and Education Fund of New York is the research and public education affiliate of Citizen Action of New York.

The report says a proposed $1.4 billion school aid cut would affect students of color and those who have limited English proficiency disproportionately because they tend to live in school districts that are more dependant on state aid. A $1.4 billion cut was approved by Senate resolution on March 22, while the Assembly would restore $600 million in school aid under its budget resolution, adopted on March 24.

Cohen, talking about the Assembly and Senate budget resolutions, said the Assembly has a slightly lesser impact on racial and ethnic disparity, but both resolutions still fall short of what could be done to lessen the impact of drastic cuts on poor communities.

Marina Marcou-O’Malley, a policy analyst for the Alliance for Quality Education and co-author of the report, talked at a press conference about the cuts being proposed to school spending.

“These proposed cuts are in high-needs districts. This means that school districts that need the most help in ensuring that every student has access to their constitutionally granted right to a sound, basic education and the opportunity to learn will lose the most programs, the most access,” said O’Malley.

She said the cut per classroom would be $11,677 statewide compared to a cut of around $2,000 to $4,000 per classroom for wealthier school districts where the proportion of students of color is generally much lower. On top of this, said O’Malley, 64 percent of districts expect they will be increase property taxes.

Paul Webster, community outreach coordinator for New York State United Teachers union, said the Race Matters report is important because “it really depicts a stark future for communities of color.”

Webster said cuts to high-needs districts in education would be particularly harmful because of the loss of teaching staff. He cited Buffalo as an example because the group predicts the city’s school district will lose 1,100 teachers and educators — one-third of its professional force.

He also said Albany would lose 113 teachers and educators, Yonkers up to 1,000, Syracuse 211, and Brentwood in Suffolk County, which has the largest population of Hispanic students outside of New York City of around 15,000 students, would lose 525.

“These cuts are not just numbers on a piece of paper, this is the future of kids in our state that we’re talking about,” said Citizen Action Executive Director Karen Scharff.

There is also a proposal in the Executive Budget to cut state funding for after-school programs from $28 million to $17 million. The report says after-school programs have a particularly strong impact on raising achievement among low-income children and children of color.

Anne Pope, northeast regional director for the NAACP, speaks at the release of the Race Matters report from Citizen Action New York. The report examines how Executive Budget proposals could affect ethnic and racial disparities. Photo by Andrew Beam, The Legislative Gazette.

“President Obama has stated that education is the key to success. What the heck are we doing? Are we providing success for our children or are we going to continue to put these budget cuts and expect them to be successful for us?” asked Analusette Shaello-Johnson, municipal youth bureau director for the city of Binghamton.

The report also points to cuts in higher education and how they might cause ethnic and racial disparity.

For SUNY schools, the Executive Budget proposes a $95 million cut; for CUNY $48 million; and a reduction of base aid to SUNY and CUNY community colleges of $285 per full-time equivalent student, the report says.

According to the report, SUNY and CUNY combined educate roughly three-fifths of all college students of color in the state. As of the fall of 2008, 28.3 percent of CUNY students were Hispanic, 28.2 percent were African-American and 17 percent were Asian-Pacific American.

The report shows that the Professional Staff Congress, which represents CUNY professors, found that 45 percent of CUNY community college students come from households with annual incomes of less than $20,000.

The Public Higher Education Empowerment and Innovation Act (S.6607-a/A.9707-a) is also criticized in the report. One part of the bill would allow tuition increases to be set independently by SUNY and CUNY boards, instead of by the Legislature.

The report says that, even with a proposed cap on tuition hikes, there could still be up to a 10 percent increase if enacted. The potential increase, combined with no commitment to increase or maintain aid from the state, could have the effect of “squeezing out the low-income students and students of color who attend these institutions,” according to the report.

The report also says that the proposed tuition cap — 2.5 times the rolling average of the higher education price index, a measure of inflation rate in U.S. higher education — does not apply to differential tuition for specific academic programs. The report finds that the lack of a cap on differential tuition could push poorer students out of certain majors that cost more to offer, such as science or medicine.

The Student Assembly of the State University of New York, which has one seat on the SUNY Board of Trustees, has asked for a cap on differential tuition and a decrease to the tuition-increase cap.

“Differential tuition would exacerbate existing and persistent inequalities of race, gender and class. It was to challenge those inequalities that many of us entered into education in the first place,” the report says, quoting budget testimony given by Barbara Bowen, president of the Professional Staff Congress.

Phillip H. Smith, president of United University Professions, said the Senate resolution on the budget asks for an additional $15.4 million in cuts to “universitywide programs” that aren’t specified. The Executive Budget also proposes a 12 percent cut to opportunity programs such as SEEK/CD (Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge/ College Discovery), EOP (Educational Opportunity Program) and HEOP (Higher Education Opportunity Program).

“In the past, EOP and HEOP are two premier opportunity programs especially for people of color that have been cut to the bone. Just this past year over 17,000 students were turned away,” said Smith.

Among health care measures, the report finds a “mixed bag” of proposals that could both positively and negatively affect communities of color. The Assembly’s budget resolutions reject $126.3 million of the governor’s proposed health care spending reductions, while the Senate accepted the governor’s $1.9 billion cut.

The report approves of the Executive Budget proposal to regulate health insurance rate increases. The budget would require insurers to spend 85 percent of premium dollars on health care that it says would help hold down rates.

According to the report, African-American and Hispanic workers are less likely to have employer-sponsored insurance. Regulating health insurance rates, says the report, would help those groups by easing the burden on those who need to buy into Healthy New York, small business insurance coverage or the direct-pay market.

Cohen said that there is a good chance this year there will be a re-regulation of health insurance rates by the Legislature.

The report is also critical of the plan to reduce charity care funding by $70 million. The program is directed at assisting uninsured, disproportionately low-income people and people of color in hospitals. The report suggests restoring the cut and instituting greater accountability to make sure hospitals use the money appropriately to serve the uninsured.

Among other health care measures, the report also disapproves of a $507,600 proposed cut to school-based health centers, centers located on-site that collectively serve more than 200,000 underserved youth in rural, urban and suburban schools throughout the state.

The report also offers alternatives to Executive Budget proposals. It recommends reducing the stock transfer tax rebate by 20 percent. Instead of stock brokers receiving a full rebate on individual stocks transferred, the state would only rebate 80 percent back to brokers. New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness have said this could raise $3.2 billion annually in state revenues.

There is also a proposal for a one-time tax on bankers’ cash bonuses over $50,000, with the report saying the tax could raise $6 billion to $10 billion, discourage the rewarding of short-term risk-taking and “encourage firms to maintain adequate capital reserves by tying employees’ fates to those of shareholders.”

Anne Pope, northeast regional director for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said “this report points to the fact that our job is not over, in fact our job is going to be a little harder.”

“The report highlights that [while] the nation and state are led by people of color, the overall condition of our communities remains extraordinarily difficult and many find themselves in crisis,” continued Pope.

“Unfortunately, we’re in a political dynamic where people think government programs are bad,” said Cohen.

Permalink: http://www.legislativegazette.com/Articles-c-2010-04-05-66535.113122_Report_Budget_cuts_unfairly_target_states_minorities_poor.html

But new research suggests otherwise, and may reinforce the views of those who (like President Obama) say that aiming high is always the best message to send young people.

Governor Paterson on Tuesday released his proposed 2010-11 Executive Budget, which included proposals to reduce all TAP awards by $75 and cut the maximum TAP award for all students in two-year degree programs from $5,000 to $4,000.

Where will students find college funding?

TAP funds are available to income-qualified students who would otherwise not be able to afford and attend college. The governor’s actions mean college will not be an option for many of New York’s neediest students, primarily those who have the academic qualifications to attend college, but not the financial means. Additionally, APC questioned the rationale for cutting funding for two-year students only. These students must be supported because they earn degrees and find quality jobs more quickly.

“The governor is saying ‘no’ to students who have the will and the grades for college, but lack the funds. TAP funds are investments in New Yorkers, helping the state’s most needy students achieve the dream of attending college and launching a rewarding career,” said Stephen Jerome, APC president and president of Monroe College in the Bronx and New Rochelle. “We know the governor agrees that an educated population is important to New York’s future economic vitality. However, any reductions in TAP funding work against that belief. With TAP and a degree, students become earners and taxpayers, and therefore part of the state’s economic solution. TAP is a smart investment in New York’s future.”

The Association of Proprietary Colleges represents 26 tax-paying, degree-granting colleges located on 39 campuses across New York. Proprietary colleges are one of the four sectors of higher education in New York. APC Colleges offer degrees in more than 60 associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs, including business, health care, hospitality management, graphic arts and technology.

Permalink: http://readme.readmedia.com/Governors-TAP-Cuts-Target-New-Yorks-Most-Financially-Needy-Students/1056307

How does this effect HEOP?

HEOP is funded through several funding programs. One of the big and long time supporting funding program is TAP (Tuition Assistant Program). Tap generally provides up to $4000 in scholarship for students (based on academic year). Depending on what the tuition is for the institution, this could be a huge chunk of funding that a student can get. Since HEOP has already faced much cutbacks from the funding, how much more cuts could they really handle? There have been rumors that several HEOP institutions are now cutting down the number of accepted and incoming students from 40 to 15. That a cut back of 62.5%. If the government does cut more funding, that number might decrease even more. Eventually, there will be barely any funding left for any institute to have the Higher Education Opportunity Program.

How to help stop the funding cuts

Below is an e-mail I received from Deborah M. Stendardi Vice President of Government & Community Relations at the Rochester Institute of Technology with some ways students can help fight this budget cut.

The recently released proposed State Budget for FY 2011 by Governor David Paterson includes a $75 cut in Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) awards for every student who benefits from this program to help them meet their tuition costs.  While this may not seem as dramatic a cut as we have been faced with in some previous years, the impact on individual students is nevertheless significant, particularly in light of the challenging economic circumstances facing many of our students and their families.  Moreover, State funding for the Tuition Assistance Program has stagnated for the past ten years, while the federal government is increasing its commitment to students.  We believe that it is critical for New York State to continue to invest in and maintain its commitment to its future workforce by sustaining TAP at its current funding levels.   More than 3,500 RIT students receive $8 million in TAP support, making this program one of the key foundations in making an RIT education affordable for low and middle income New York State students.

We encourage members of the RIT campus community (faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends) to make your voices heard and to encourage your elected State officials to reject the Governor’s proposed cut in TAP.  You can do so easily by linking to the following website:  http://capwiz.com/cicu/home/, and clicking on the box that says “take action”.   Key messages that you might considering including are:

• The proposed cut in TAP would hurt students and families who are already struggling due to the economy;
• The State’s investment in TAP is an investment in our future workforce at a time when it is critically important to keep and retain our students and our graduates in New York State;
• The TAP cuts would have a disproportionately harmful impact on economically and educationally disadvantaged students, such as those enrolled in HEOP, who have already been impacted by prior year cuts in that program
• As a taxpayer and voter, you believe that higher education access should be a top priority even in light of the difficult choices and decisions that the State has to make this year;
• Finally, any personal experience you may have with the TAP program and/or the impact that the program has had on RIT students would be important to include.

President Barack Obama, speaking at Macomb Community College in Warren, Mich., in July, proposed a multibillion-dollar investment in the nation’s community colleges.

Almost a year after assuming leadership, the administration of Barack Obama has taken on enormous tasks in confronting the recession that has gripped the U.S. economy. Americans have watched tentatively as the president has extended federal powers into handling corporate bailouts, overseeing the rehabilitation of banks and General Motors, laying the groundwork for reshaping national energy and climate change policy, and leading the charge for national health care reform.

Experts say the administration’s ambitious approach to federal intervention and national policy reforms has proven no less determined in what it has prescribed for American higher education. Last February, Obama announced to a joint session of Congress that “by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.” Introducing a national community college initiative this past July, Obama invoked the lofty legacy of federal involvement in U.S. higher education.

“Time and again, when we have placed our bet for the future on education, we have prospered as a result…. That is what happened when President (Abraham) Lincoln signed into law legislation creating the land grant colleges, which not only transformed higher education but also our economy. That is what took place when President (Franklin) Roosevelt signed the GI Bill, which helped educate a generation – and usher in an era of unprecedented prosperity,” Obama told an audience at Macomb Community College in Warren, Mich., during the announcement of the American Graduation Initiative.

Scholars, academic administrators and higher education policy officials have largely interpreted the administration’s pronouncements, more than $100 billion in education stimulus funding and the community college-focused American Graduation Initiative, as markers of a significant shift in federal higher education policy and the making of a credible push for an expanded federal role in American higher education. It’s also significant that the “Race to the Top” initiative, the administration’s K-12 education reform effort, focuses on school districts getting more students prepared for college, experts note.

“The federal role has been traditionally to support economic access through need-based student aid, through loans and grants, and through some categorical programs. But it’s not had a policy role, particularly around the agenda of (college) completion and increasing overall attainment,” says Jane Wellman, executive director of the Delta Project on Postsecondary Education Costs, Productivity, and Accountability.

“They’re talking about more access, more degree completion. It’s a tremendously important extension of where the federal government has been historically.”

Adds Dr. Michael McPherson, president of the Chicago-based Spencer Foundation and co-author of Crossing the Finish Line: Completing College at America’s Public Universities, “Shifting the goal to not just getting in, but getting through, or ‘crossing the finish line’ does suggest some adjustments in how education programs will work.”

“I don’t think that means some spectacular changes in the federal role, but (means) ways of rewarding institutions or states that have greater success and ways of weaving together research efforts and demonstration programs to try to find things that work in getting people through school successfully,” McPherson says. “These, I think, are roles that are going to expand for the federal government.”

Historic Interventions

The establishment of the GI Bill in World War II’s aftermath is commonly regarded as a highly acclaimed federal intervention and marked the federal government’s pioneering move into facilitating college access. The 1940s through the 1960s saw the federal government substantially ramp up scientific research at major universities, helping make U.S. institutions the world’s premier research universities.

“The federal role in higher education, in terms of financial aid, really started with the GI Bill right after World War II. The financial aid role, both with the GI Bill and eventually the Pell Grant, was to provide more access, or opportunity, to go to college,” says Stan Jones, president of the Washington-based Complete College America organization.

Jones says the move by the Obama administration to develop and implement a college-completion agenda is “substantial and unprecedented.” He believes the agenda has considerable symbolic cache that may help administration officials justify the lofty rhetoric, including comparisons to the GI Bill, they have used in talking about national college-completion goals.

“(Obama’s) call for at least one year of college for everybody moves up the threshold from public education being kindergarten through grade 12 (to) raising that threshold to include one year of college for everybody. I think that’s symbolic,” Jones says.

Dr. Carl Bankston, chair of the Tulane University sociology department, says it’s notable that Obama has urged making the attainment of at least one year of postsecondary education in addition to having a high school diploma the education standard for all Americans. It’s significant for a federal executive to lead the effort in establishing a standard that may become as much of a social and cultural norm as one meeting economic needs for American prosperity, according to Bankston.

“It wasn’t until the 1950s and 1960s that earning a high school diploma was seen as a universal goal for American citizens. I don’t know that federal officials took the lead on helping make that a social norm,” says Bankston, an expert in the sociology of education.

Bankston, however, characterizes Obama’s college-completion agenda as “less a matter of changing the relationship of the federal government to higher education than continuing a line that has been in progress through various administrations, both Democratic and Republican, that is increasing the federal role in education at all levels.”

“(What) you might call the ‘federalization’ of education is something that’s been happening at least since the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and probably you can date it back to the late 1950s when the Eisenhower administration first started investing in education,” Bankston says. “It seems to me, in general, less of a change than continuing along a line of ever-increasing involvement by the federal government.”

With community colleges taking center stage in the administration’s college-completion agenda, experts say this emphasis represents a radical shift in federal higher education policy, which many characterize as having been traditionally focused on four-year institutions. In the proposed American Graduation Initiative, the administration wants to spend $12 billion on community colleges over the next decade to support facility improvements, work-force development programs and an expansion of online instruction so students have access to courses whenever they need them.

“The fact that (the administration is) setting federal goals and national goals is in itself innovative. They’ve also been the first administration that I can think of ever that has put their highest-funding priority around the institutions that serve the majority of low-income students,” Wellman says. “One of the biggest performance problems we’ve got in higher education, which isn’t talked about enough, is the huge degree of stratification. We have a handful of rich institutions and an awful lot of poorly financed institutions that serve the majority of the students.”

In recent years, community college certificate and degree completion rates as well as transfer rates have come under national scrutiny. Nearly 60 percent of students entering four-year institutions earn a bachelor’s degree in six years, while only 31 percent of students who begin their academic careers at public community colleges complete either an associate or a bachelor’s degree in six years, according to U.S. Education Department data. With community colleges typically seeing lags in degree completion rates when compared to four-year institutions, public officials and foundations, such as the Gates Foundation, have stepped up efforts to improve the capacity of community colleges to better help their students attain educational success.

“There needs to be a focus on how community colleges can improve. One of the biggest problems, and leaders of community colleges will tell you, is the very low success rate,” McPherson says “I would emphasize with the evidence we have (in Crossing the Finish Line) that as community colleges work now, it’s a pretty tough road to start from a high school level education and make it to a bachelor’s degree after starting at a community college. The evidence is that people with the same background and qualifications have a lot better shot at actually completing a bachelor’s degree starting out at the four-year school.”

The Long Journey Ahead

Experts say community colleges have not occupied the policy spotlight. Dr. William Kirst, professor emeritus of business administration and education at Stanford University, says the shift to putting community colleges in the forefront of the administration’s college-completion agenda reverses the emphasis of federal policy away from four-year institutions. Since World War II, the emphasis on college access and developing research capacity has favored public four-year institutions over public two-year schools, according to Kirst.

“Community colleges have been politically weaker than the four-year colleges. They don’t have as powerful a lobby four-year and research institutions have traditionally had in Washington,” Kirst says.

Dr. Lorelle Espinosa, director of policy and strategic initiatives at the Washington-based Institute for Higher Education Policy, has cautioned that policy officials, researchers and advocates should focus on not losing sight of the college access issue. U.S. higher education institutions are facing a future where they will have to recruit students who are of first-generation, low-income or minority backgrounds, she notes.

“I worry there’s too much dichotomizing of access from college success in the discussions of policy and research officials. There will be a challenge facing higher education in making sure access remains a high priority given that we’re seeing significant demographic shifts in the coming years,” Espinosa says.

Enormous political challenges face the Obama administration over its higher education policy priorities. Experts worry whether administration officials will be able to develop an effective political strategy that builds political consensus in Congress and among state officials around the effort to focus on college completion as well as strengthen community colleges.

“I think the single most important thing (the Obama administration) can do is to extend the conversation to the policy leaders in the states who are going to have to drive this bus,” Wellman says.

One early test for the Obama administration will be whether it can persuade Congress to pass the Student Assistance and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA).  Major funding for Obama proposals would be made available through SAFRA, which has passed the House and was pending before the Senate earlier this month. SAFRA includes $3 billion for a college access and completion fund along with $2.5 billion for community college facilities and $630 million in other grants to community colleges.

Other measures include $2.5 billion for minority-serving institutions and a $1,350 increase in the maximum Pell Grant over the next decade. To finance these investments, SAFRA would do away with bank-generated student loans in favor of less expensive, government-backed Direct Loans. Officials have estimated the federal government can save $9 billion annually by eliminating loan subsidies for private banks.

SAFRA’s passage will be critical, but the administration’s long-term success in higher education policy will depend on how well it builds a consensus with states on making college completion a high priority, Wellman says.

“I think this is a national agenda not just a federal agenda. And using the federal government to define the terms of a national conversation is hugely important,” Wellman says. “As far as I am concerned, I think that the United States has been complacent and not been paying attention to what our country needs by way of increased attainment.”

Permalink: http://diverseeducation.com/article/13280/obama-s-higher-education-agenda-may-lead-to-expanded-federal-role.html

1. Won’t need to be purchased. Rental textbooks are already popping up at campuses around the country. Purchasing textbooks will become a thing of the past with rentals costing 40 to 70% of the purchase price. Publishers like this option because they can make money off each rental rather than only the first sale, ensuring that more and more titles are likely to become available in the near future.
2. Like a guide book. Textbooks as the authoritative resource is likely to be a thing of the past. Instead, textbooks may become more like guidebooks, or be printed as small pocket versions that include the highlights and links to Internet resources for the bigger picture. One professor likened this idea to a recent trip to Egypt where he took the Lonely Planet guidebook to help him know what he wanted to learn about, then was able to come home and look at more authoritative resources to expand his knowledge.
3. E-textbooks. Like DigitalOwl, a software company in Florida that is sending e-textbooks to some Florida schools, many are already beginning to make the transition to electronic books. Usually electronic books are read on computers and ebook reading devices. While some older studies indicate that reading comprehension is better on printed paper, with technological advances continually improving the quality of ebook reading devices, the chance of e-textbooks pushing ahead looks promising.
4. Virtual textbooks. One way students of the future could get their reading material is from virtual textbooks on the Internet, like Smarthistory. Not only could the virtual textbook contain much more information at a fraction of the cost, students could also see Flash animations demonstrating concepts that are better conceptualized visually. These virtual texts could also incorporate questions and other forms of feedback to ensure the students are engaged.
5. Constantly evolving. Static information that remains in texts for years will no longer be the norm. When information is discovered that outdates what is in the text, it can quickly and easily be replaced when texts are in digital format. With the cost of updating digital texts being only a fraction of the cost involved with updating printed books, material will stay current at a lower price.
6. Interactive. When textbooks go digital, the possibilities of having the texts be interactive are wide open. Hyperlinks connecting directly to the sources, integrated quizzes testing students’ knowledge that can be emailed to the teacher, and interactive diagrams are just a few of the potential opportunities with interactive textbooks. This type of interface is more engaging for students and opens up more learning possibilities than static paper texts can provide.
7. Wiki-like interface. An online textbook could be open to input from others, along the lines of Wikipedia, creating a stronger text. Imagine a textbook where mistakes are flagged, experts can expand on knowledge already included in the text, and the ability for other to contribute elements such as additional practice problems are considered the norm. Like Wikipedia, there would be moderators who monitor the incoming information and maintain the integrity of the content in the textbook.
8. Open textbooks. Like the wiki idea, open textbooks are available online, are customizable, and have the added bonus of being completely free of charge. Open textbooks can be textbooks already in existence that professors find online or can be authored by the professors themselves. The idea of open textbooks is appealing to many professors as the content can be more aligned with their personal teaching style. The concept is appealing to students because these texts come free of charge.
9. High tech. Future textbooks may be in the form of smart phones and ebook reading devices. Some schools are already handing out iPhones, iTouches, and Kindles to their students so they will have access not only to digital texts, but in the case of smart phones, homework alerts, announcements, and more from the school. The flexibility and portability of these devices is appealing to many students and administrators alike.
10. Student-authored. This idea upsets the whole paradigm of traditional education–a student writing the text. However, some recent research has shown promising results from student-authored textbooks. The students who write the text are more engaged and feel they have gained more than they would have just reading textbooks. The content of the books are also more relevant to students, with less rhetoric, more diversity, and are more engrossing.

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The above article was adopted with permission from OnlineSchool.Net.

College Students are New York’s Best Investment
Act now to protect student financial aid from mid-year reductions

The mid-year budget cuts that have been proposed by Governor Paterson include, among other proposed cuts in higher education programs, a reduction of $120 in Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) awards for all current TAP recipients in this academic year.  While we appreciate the serious financial difficulties facing New York State, we believe that college students should not have to shoulder this additional burden with a mid-year reduction in their financial aid support.  More than 3,500 RIT students currently receive TAP awards.  The proposal would reduce overall support to our students by over $400,000.

Although the Governor and Legislature have yet to agree on a mid-year budget reduction plan, it is likely that some mid-year cuts will be made when the Legislature returns to Albany again next week.  Therefore, we need your help to ensure that the voices of our students and the RIT campus community are heard to protect against the proposed reduction in TAP awards.  Now more than ever it is important for the State to invest in its future workforce as represented by our college students.

You can help by sending a message to your state elected officials via the following link:  http://capwiz.com/cicu/home/, and urging them to reject a mid-year reduction in TAP awards.

Our legislators have always been very supportive of student financial aid, and specifically the TAP program.  However, in light of the current budget situation it is important to remind them how important this program is and why it should remain a priority for the State.   Please take a few minutes to voice your interest in this matter to your State legislators.   Thank you.

What would you do if you could generate a return of $8 on a $1 investment, especially if you were absolutely certain that it is legal, ethical and moral? This would be an attractive investment at any time, but in tough financial times like these it makes even more sense. For the past four decades, New York’s leaders have had the wisdom to make exactly this investment through our nation-leading Opportunity Programs, including the Arthur O. Eve Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) hosted by independent colleges and universities, Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) hosted by the State University of New York, and Seeking Education and Elevation through Knowledge (SEEK) hosted by the City University of New York. Together these programs have graduated more than 5,000 people every year since 1969, so there are now more than 200,000 alumni participating in the economy as taxpayers, homeowners, employers and employees, entrepreneurs, and more.

While the exact causes of the current recession may be debated for decades, one factor that is absolutely clear here in New York State is that we have been over-reliant on Wall Street and the financial sector of the economy. Of course the financial sector will always be important to our economy, but it is also abundantly clear that it makes sense to diversify so our overall economy is more resilient and therefore more stable. Educating people to participate in a diverse economy just makes sense in both the long and short term, especially when the alternative is to leave them in poverty.

We all know New York ’s state budget is in serious trouble, and we all know we must pull together to make needed changes that will improve things for us all. The Governor has proposed cuts totaling about $5.3 million across HEOP, EOP and SEEK in the face of an estimated $38 billion shortfall over the next four years. Enacting the proposed cut would result in an immediate, and insignificant, deficit reduction of less than 1.5%. Much more significant though would be the lost return on that investment. In fact, since we know program graduates contribute back $8 for every $1 invested by the state, this cut will in fact magnify the very deficit it tries to reduce. This cut is the worst thing we can do now. We know we can’t add more resources at this time, but at least let’s not make things even worse.

Besides the clear economic consequences of enacting this cut, there are also moral consequences. A cut of this magnitude means we must deny hundreds of potential teachers, entrepreneurs, health care workers, and engineers access to the kind of education and training they need to realize their potential. No one enters these kinds of fields without higher education, and New York State cannot afford to throw them away. Not now, not ever. Making these cuts will slam shut the door of opportunity, locking out the kind of talent we need right when we need it the most. In these difficult times we may either open the door to creativity, energy and talent in the expectation that many hands make light work, or we can close the door and leave them in the cold and expect fewer people to shoulder the work of recovery.

Whether one considers the question from an economic perspective or a moral one, the answer is perfectly clear. Closing the door won’t close the gap.