The Other 85 Percent

Raising State Higher Education Attainment Rates

November 21, 2008 | Filed under: Capella, Capella University, Inside Higher Ed, Mike Offerman, academics, continuing education, distance learning, elearning, online education, online learning, online university

In June there was a meeting to “conceive a new agenda for public higher education,”
held at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.  A report of the meeting has just been released, and includes the following recommendation:

Focus on adult learning and training in response to the demands of rapid economic, technological, and societal change.  Major employers, including state governments themselves, should begin to require job applicants to have postsecondary credentials or workplace certifications as appropriate.  States should consider tax credits, lifelong learning accounts or other incentives for adults to upgrade their knowledge and skills for continued currency in the workplace.

I applaud this recommendation.

At the beginning of the report, the group cited three facts in the form of questions, as follows:

What if the United States no longer ranked in the top ten in the world in terms of educational level of our citizens?

What if the United States were one of only two nations in the world in which our young adults are less well educated than our middle aged adults?

What if studies estimated that the U.S. must produce one million more higher education degrees and certifications each year if it hopes to lead the world in educational attainment by 2025?

As I said, these are all facts that describe our situation today.  According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United States no longer ranks in the top 10 nations in the proportion of young adults earning a higher education degree.  Germany joins the U.S. as the only two nations that have lower education attainment rates for people aged 25-34 than for those aged 45-54.  And, The Center for American Progress in a study titled “Federal Access Policies and Higher Education for Working Adults,” estimates that the United States needs to increase annual production of higher education degrees by about a million per year through 2025 just to keep up with other nations (not to lead the world as the question implies).

I am pleased that there is emphasis on increased service to adult students, and calls for increased higher education attainment rates.  However, while I recognize that this was a conference on public institutions, I am disappointed that, as states debate how to increase attainment and better serve adults, there is no acknowledgement of the changes that online learning has created and the opportunities that flow from those changes.   The report reveals that the public institutions were chided for having “abandoned their founding missions to educate students of a particular region” and an argument was made that “place” is more important now than ever.

Is geography really that important in today’s world?  Obviously, being at an online university, I would say no.  I would argue that the state governors and legislatures should consider the opportunity that exists to work not only with their public institutions but also with national institutions that can help increase attainment rates, that know how to best serve adults, and that stand ready to assist.  The argument is made in the report to increase public funding to state universities, and I think that is necessary and good.  But, in addition to that, there is the opportunity to encourage enrollment in online programs that may be provided by universities other than a state’s public schools, some of which may be from other states.  This would not require funding but would require removal of unnecessary barriers that exist in some states.  While necessary consumer protection provisions are important, some state requirements seem to be focused more on protectionism for in-state institutions than on protection for consumers.

As mentioned in prior postings, a number of programs and institutions that serve adults through online degrees and certifications have joined together to create the most vigorous higher education consumer information and accountability effort: Transparency by Design.  We are the online universities that are serious about providing consumer information and protection and being accountable for the learning outcomes we produce.  I hope that our efforts might be recognized by those states that want to increase higher education attainment rates and that reasonable changes can be made so that we can help those states to achieve their goals.

Your thoughts? I look forward to reading and responding to your comments.

Mike

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