Washington
President Obama and his administration need to get more involved if the United States is to meet his goal of having the world's highest proportion of college graduates by 2020, panelists said at the annual meeting of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities here on Monday.
"Only the president can pull this together," M. Peter McPherson, the association's president, said during a panel discussion of the challenges facing public universities.
Others on the panel urged the president and the secretary of education, Arne Duncan, to use their "bully pulpits" and "purse strings" to encourage a stronger commitment from the states for the president's goal. One panel member said that higher education could use the administration's Race to the Top competition as a model. That program will allow states to vie for grants that would support education reform in elementary and secondary schools, and innovation in the classroom.
Panelists pointed out that the United States has rallied before and increased college enrollment, especially after World War II, following the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik, and with the advent of community colleges. So there is history to assume that the president's goal can be reached, they said.
Among the challenges in meeting the president's goal identified by members are the large number of students in the pipeline—mostly minorities who are not prepared for college work—the lack of stronger credit-transfer agreements between two-year and four-year colleges in some states, and the country's current economic difficulties.
A couple of panelists recommended that the association band together with other educational organizations such as the Association of American Universities to not only reaffirm the president's goal but devise some intermediary steps that could be achieved along the way.
Comments
1. blue_state_academic - November 17, 2009 at 05:34 am
"Others on the panel urged the president and the secretary of education, Arne Duncan, to use their 'bully pulpits' and 'purse strings' to encourage a stronger commitment from the states for the president's goal."
What planet are these panelists living on? It's a wonderful time to expect states to step forward to help meeting these goals, given the flush nature of their "purse strings." Maybe these panelists should have attended the presentation by the economist at another APLU session who noted that the recession and constraints on state revenues are likely to last until 2011.
2. millen1 - November 17, 2009 at 09:41 am
Agreed the "Panelists" should focus on the reality and re-read the challenge.
It is not about enrolling more students; it is about increasing the percentage of those who start and graduate. Should each of America's colleges and universities increase their Graduate Rate by 1%, we will be one step closer to this goal and we as a nation win. Look within, first - oh sage Panelists.
3. mkant69 - November 17, 2009 at 10:32 am
The increases in student aid proposed by the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 (passed 9/17/09 by the House and still pending in the Senate) are a step in the right direction, but merely maintain the status quo. If the President wants to achieve his goals for increasing the number of Americans with college degrees, he needs to make bolder moves. It is no longer adequate to nibble at the margins, focus on small efficiency improvements and shift money from bucket A to bucket B. There needs to be a substantial commitment backed by tens of billions of dollars of new money per year. Otherwise we will fall short of his goals.
Also, the president's goals cannot be achieved just by increasing the number of traditional students who graduate high school, enroll in college and complete their education. It also requires encouraging older students, nontraditional students, to pursue college degrees. The financial aid system is geared toward traditional students and does not contemplate the needs of nontraditional students who may have families to support while they are pursuing an education.
4. jsch0602 - November 17, 2009 at 08:59 pm
How will churning out more degrees in English and sociology improve the country or the people who acquire them? Many careers do not require a college education. Many people are unprepared for or uninterested in college. Obama's goal seems to be aimed at pleasing the education lobby.