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Posts Tagged ‘postsecondary’

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Community College Grant Solicitation Expected This Month

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010

Last year, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act amended the Trade Act to authorize a new Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grant Program, which was then funded at $2 billion over four years by the healthcare bill in March. These grants will be available to institutions of higher education to expand their capacity to provide education and career training to TAA for Workers program participants and other individuals to upgrade their knowledge and skills so that they can find family-sustaining employment. The grant solicitation is expected to be released later this month.

The Department of Labor has released a fact sheet on the grant program outlining key issues and questions for colleges interested in applying for funds. Additional information can be found in the most recent issue of the Association of Community College Trustees’ Trustee Quarterly magazine, which features Q&A with Department of Education Under Secretary Martha Kanter and Department of Labor Assistant Secretary Jane Oates.

By admin in Legislation
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Advantages and Disadvantages of Postsecondary Accountability Databases

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010

Shortly after taking office last year, President Obama announced that “by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world,” thrusting the spotlight on postsecondary accountability. A new report from the American Council on Education, College Graduation Rates: A Look Behind the Numbers, explores the complexities of measuring college graduation rates and finds that existing databases do not give a full picture of student outcomes and success at the postsecondary level.

The report details the most commonly reported graduation rates and the databases used to calculate these rates, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each database. The report also suggests several factors for policy makers to consider before using graduation rate data from existing databases. What this report does not do is focus on disparities in graduation rates, or on how to improve graduation rates, or how to fix graduation rates calculations. Rather, the goal of this report is “to help policy makers better understand the challenges inherent in using current graduation rate data to determine or inform federal or state policy decisions regarding postsecondary education institutions.”

As the President and other policymakers advance their goal of improving postsecondary completion rates, it will be important for them to take into consideration all the caveats and work to capture all of the missing information in the current system.

By admin in Public Policy
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White House Launches “Skills for America’s Future”

Tuesday, October 5th, 2010

At a meeting before the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB) yesterday, President Obama announced a new initiative, Skills for America’s Future, which focuses on improving industry partnerships with community colleges to ensure that students obtain the skills and knowledge they need to be successful in the workforce.

President Obama said, “We want to make it easier to join students looking for jobs with businesses looking to hire. We want to put community colleges and employers together to create programs that match curricula in the classroom with the needs of the boardroom. Skills for America’s Future would help connect more employers, schools, and other job training providers, and help them share knowledge about what practices work best. The goal is to ensure there are strong partnerships between growing industries and community college or training programs in every state in the country.”

To reach these goals, the President has asked members of PERAB to reach out to business and industry and ask them to partner with their local community colleges. The following businesses have already committed to being partners:

The goals of this initiative will help make the United States number one in terms of college graduates by 2020, by ensuring that 5 million community college students graduate and earn certificates by the end of the decade. Skills for America’s Future will be housed at the Aspen Institute, and more information can be found at www.skillsforamerica.org.

By admin in Public Policy
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Department of Education Announces RPOS Winners

Tuesday, October 5th, 2010

The U.S. Department of Education today announced the six winning states of the Promoting Rigorous Career and Technical Education Programs of Study grants. The grants are aimed at improving state and local development and implementation of rigorous programs of study.Each winning state will develop and implement a program of study in a specific discipline or set of disciplines:

The grants will be awarded for up to four years. Approximately $1.5 million is available for the first year, while funding for years 2 through 4 is subject to the availability of funds and to a grantee meeting the requirements of its grant award. For more information and grant amounts for the first year, please read: http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-awards-six-state-grants-promote-rigorous-career-and-tech.

By admin in Public Policy
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Legislative Update: Congress in Recess, Continuing Resolution, For-Profit Hearing

Friday, October 1st, 2010

Congress Recesses Until November

Despite returning to Washington just two weeks ago, members of Congress returned home yesterday to campaign in their states ahead of the mid-term elections. Congress is expected to return the week of November 15, then recess again for the week of Thanksgiving and be back the week of November 29, until done. Senate Majority Whip, Dick Durbin (IL), said this week that the lame duck session will focus on three items an omnibus spending package, a middle-income tax extension and a strategic arms control treaty with Russia.

Continuing Resolution to Keep Government Running

Because Congress did not pass any appropriations bills this session, they have passed a continuing resolution that will keep the government open and federal programs running at FY2010 levels until December 3, 2010. Their goal is to pass an omnibus appropriations bill before the session ends in December.

Senate Hearing on For-Profit Schools

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held the latest in a series of hearings on for-profit schools this week. Yesterday’s hearing, “The Federal Investment in For-Profit Education: Are Students Succeeding?,” focused on the success rates of students at these schools and the impact that attending these schools can have on personal debt. In his opening statement, Chairman Tom Harkin (IA) revealed the following statistics that his staff has compiled in a new report:

“We will be having yet another hearing in early December, and then be looking at sometime next year coming up with some kind of legislative changes,” Harkin said during the hearing.

Ranking Member Michael Enzi (WY) was quick to point out that many of these problems are not limited to proprietary schools, but exist across the higher education spectrum, including public and private 4-year colleges and universities and community colleges, and that for-profits should not be singled out.

By admin in Legislation, Public Policy
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College Education Pays in Many Ways

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

Education Pays

At a time when President Obama has set a goal of the United States leading the world in college completion by 2020, a new report details the financial and non-monetary benefits of obtaining a postsecondary degree. The third installment of the College Board’s “Education Pays” series, Education Pays 2010: The Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and Society, found that those who attended college (whether they graduated or not), earned more than high school graduates who did not attend college, and that college graduates were more likely to be employed. Among the report’s other findings:

The report also examines participation and success trends in higher education, finding that enrollment gaps persist across racial and socioeconomic groups. Another interesting participation statistic was that approximately 40 percent of dependent undergraduate students whose families made less than $40,000 a year enrolled in public two-year colleges in 2007-08, and eight percent enrolled in for-profit institutions. Meanwhile, 17 percent of undergraduate students whose parents made at least $120,000 a year enrolled in public two-year colleges, and only one percent attended for-profit institutions.

By admin in Public Policy
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Legislative Update: Linked Learning, Green Workforce Development, Republican Pledge to America

Friday, September 24th, 2010

Linked Learning Pathways to College, Career, and Citizenship Success Act

On September 22, Rep. Judy Chu (CA) introduced H.R. 6174, the Linked Learning Pathways to College, Career, and Citizenship Success Act, along with co-sponsor Rep. Barbara Lee (CA). The bill is aimed at preparing students for college and careers through the Linked Learning, or multiple pathways, approach. More specifically, the bill would award grants to school districts in partnership with local stakeholders, including businesses, unions, parent organizations, and other community members. At the district level, grants would be used for planning and implementation of a system of pathway schools around career themes designated as high pay, high growth, and high skill industries. At the school level, students would be exposed to four components: a rigorous academic core aligned to the state’s postsecondary requirements; career technical education; work-based learning, and supplemental services.

Green Workforce Development Through Community Colleges Act

Rep. Paul Tonko (NY) introduced H.R. 6142, the Green Workforce Development Through Community Colleges Act, which gives authority to the Secretaries of Labor, Energy and Education to jointly develop a workforce training and education program to prepare workers for careers in alternative energy and energy efficiency industries. The bill would award grants to community colleges to reach this goal.

Republican “Pledge to America”

Yesterday, Congressional Republicans issued their election policy platform, “A Pledge to America.” Education issues are not mentioned, but the document does include a plan to create jobs and make America more competitive if Republicans take control of the Congress in November. Their plan would include ending all tax increases, giving tax deductions to small businesses and repealing mandates that harm small businesses. The pledge also outlined a plan to cut spending by reducing discretionary spending to FY 2008 levels, rescinding unused ARRA funds, imposing hard caps on discretionary spending and sunsetting outdated and duplicative programs.

By admin in Legislation, Public Policy
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White House to Host Community College Summit

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

On October 5, 2010 Dr. Jill Biden will host a White House Summit on Community Colleges. The summit will bring together community colleges, business, philanthropy, federal and state policy leaders, and students to discuss how community colleges can help meet the job training and education needs of the nation’s workforce, as well as the critical role community colleges play in achieving the President’s goal to lead the world with the highest proportion of college graduates by 2020.

The White House is inviting the public to submit their thoughts, questions and challenges for discussion as part of the summit dialogue:

By admin in News, Public Policy
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Degree Programs Develop “Technically Trained Leaders”

Friday, August 27th, 2010

Demand for highly-educated and skilled workers has fueled a rise in a specialized graduate science education degree for “technically trained leaders,” according to a recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education. The trend burgeoning in higher education illustrates the demand for workers with a strong academic background buttressed with real-world skills in all sectors of the job market.

The number of professional science master’s (P.S.M.) degree programs in American universities has grown over the past two years and is now available at nearly 100 universities. “The degrees represent a response from academe to repeated calls from corporate and political leaders for better articulation of American graduate education with the country’s work-force needs,” the article said. Industry wants workers who have in-depth knowledge and the know how to apply it.

Companies, government agencies and nonprofits seek P.S.M. graduates with the expectation that they help be innovative and contribute to the knowledge-based global economy.  P.S.M. degree programs include rigorous course work in science or mathematics for fields with high career demand. In addition, courses require students to obtain a background workplace in areas such financial and project management, communication, teamwork, ethics, and regulatory affairs. The universities coordinate with employers to ensure that the programs are equipping students with real and timely economic demands.

As P.S.M. degrees grow in demand, the need for individuals — of all ages and across all job sectors — to obtain both academic and technical skills will likely be more apparent.

By admin in News
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University Aims to Connect Student Experience with Career Services

Friday, August 13th, 2010

Recognizing the need to build a strong pipeline for students, a University of Pennsylvania business school has merged the oversight of its admissions director who recruits students and the career-services officer who helps guide those students as they enter the work world, according to The Chronicle of Education.

For the first time at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, a single person has been selected as new deputy vice dean for M.B.A. admissions, financial aid, and career management. J.J. Cutler, the deputy vice dean, is an alumni and former executive and part-time recruiter for Johnson & Johnson. His assignment breaks the traditional model in which university systems’ typically hand off students from their classes to career life services, Cutler said in the article.

The restructuring may signal the start of a new trend in postsecondary institutions, which have been creating more incentives to link the education that they provide with the ability for students to secure a job in the competitive workforce.

At the University of Pennsylvania, Cutler said he plans to develop “some continuity in the life cycle of the student experience.”

By admin in News
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