The Higher Education Productivity Challenge

Most people would agree that if this nation wishes to remain competitive in the evolving global economy, more Americans must earn postsecondary credentials. But we are in a bind: the challenge is to improve the productivity of the U.S. higher education system so that more students graduate within existing resources.

Not only that, the goal must include ensuring that more students graduate in a timely manner. Earning an Associate’s degree within two years or a Bachelor’s degree within four years is no longer the norm. Extended “time to completion” is a critical barrier to increasing the productivity of U.S. higher education.

With improvements in both practice and policy, we can address many of the factors that extend students’ time to completion. States, higher education systems, and institutions have begun to experiment with new ideas that hold real promise for promoting timely completion. Building on those experiments—and taking a student-centered approach for states, systems, and institutions—Jobs for the Future is leading the Time to Completion project for Lumina Foundation for Education. Our work, detailed in this issue of Newswire, has two goals:

• To expand what we know about time to completion through research and analysis; and
• To advocate for policies and practices that will lead to more students earning degrees faster.

As the new year approaches, we at JFF wish you all seasons greetings. Together with you, we will continue to build pathways to success in education and careers.

—Marlene B. Seltzer, President and CEO, Jobs for the Future

THE TIME TO COMPLETION WEB SITE

Launched in December, the Time to Completion Web site is a resource for college administrators, policymakers, researchers, and advocates. Featuring a video that introduces the concept of time to completion, the Web site offers an overview of policy levers for changes in time-to-completion trends, an idea-and-solution library, and a database of policy options and research.

In 2010, the Web site will add three tools that JFF is developing for institution leaders and policymakers:

• A Time to Completion template that college leaders can use to conduct a time-to-completion analysis;
• A Time to Completion policy audit to help identify which policies facilitate timely degree completion; and
• The Time to Completion Cost-Return Calculator for measuring the annual cost of extended time to a degree.

PAYING FOR COLLEGE: DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN COST AND PRICE

With tuition rising, personal incomes falling, and savings decimated, paying for college is more difficult than ever, but college remains a wise investment when the vast majority of family-supporting jobs require a postsecondary degree. Yet conversations about cost generate vigorous arguments. To move forward in this environment, Paying for College, by Sandy Baum, outlines a simple framework for understanding concepts in college costs.

Baum, a professor of economics at Skidmore College and senior policy analyst at the College Board, stresses the need for better communication about the causes and effects of spiraling costs, clear language describing the central elements of college finance, and good data for measuring and comparing trends. The report lays the groundwork for constructive efforts to hold down costs without compromising on quality or educational opportunities.

PROFILE: JENNIFER POULOS

Jennifer Poulos, JFF’s point person on the Time to Completion project, came to JFF three years ago to work on Making Opportunity Affordable, a Lumina-funded postsecondary education initiative focused on increasing degree attainment.

Jennifer’s path to JFF was shaped largely by family influences. “I grew up surrounded by New York City public school teachers. My mom was a teacher, my two aunts were teachers, and my uncle runs a career and technical education program. I heard and saw—often on a daily basis—how hard they worked to set college expectations for some of their students.” By the time Jennifer completed her Master’s in Public Policy from Georgetown University, “the notion of combining passion for education issues and a career in policy seemed second nature.”

Jennifer brings special expertise in designing and conducting evaluations of secondary and postsecondary policy issues. Before arriving at JFF, she worked for Abt Associates on major federal education studies on such topics as Reading First, class-size reduction, and high school redesign. She has also conducted formative evaluations of academic programs for higher education institutions.

Return to Top

Integrating High School and College

HOW EARLY COLLEGE SCHOOLS PREPARE STUDENTS FOR SUCCESS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

National assessments continue to show persistent gaps in K-12 school achievement by race, ethnicity, and income. Young people from the middle and upper ends of the socioeconomic scale are almost five times more likely to earn a two-year or four-year college degree than those from low-income families. In a new JFF report, Thad Nodine, president of Nodine Consulting and vice president of the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education, describes how the Early College High School Initiative has made headway in contesting those trends over the past seven years, and how the initiative has garnered the attention of policymakers and education leaders nationwide.

Innovations in College Readiness: How Early College Schools are Preparing Students Underrepresented in Higher Education for College Success details how the initiative has succeeded by focusing on the same challenge President Obama enunciated: preparing students for success in postsecondary education. At more than 200 early college high schools in 24 states, students who typically fall through the cracks in America’s education system engage in a rigorous, supportive academic program that enables them to succeed in college classes before they graduate from high school.

HONORS FOR EARLY COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOLS

More than 20 schools in the Early College High School Initiative score high in U.S. News & World Report’s 2010 list of “America’s Best High Schools.” This is especially notable because all the schools are relatively new, and all serve disadvantaged populations. Moreover, a number of other schools on the list are based on the initiative’s premise: challenge, not remediation, coupled with substantial supports and the incentive of free college courses in high school, would result in college success for students underrepresented in higher education.

Hidalgo Early College High School in Texas was named to the Gold Medal list, which represents the nation’s top 100 schools. Silver-Medal-winner University Park Campus School in Massachusetts is an important professional development resource for early college schools. The strategies and instructional design that have led to universal college readiness at UPCS are central to the training at JFF’s Institute for Student Success.

Return to Top

The Workforce Challenge to Health Care Reform

THE ROLE OF EXPANDED ADVANCEMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR FRONTLINE WORKERS

According to Maria Flynn, director of Jobs to Careers and JFF Vice President, Building Economic Opportunity, “Millions of health care workers on the front lines are key to the success of health reform—but they have been mostly absent from lawmakers’ discussions. . . . Five million health aides, medical assistants, laboratory technicians, and other workers who make it possible for the nation’s hospitals and clinics to operate nearly ‘round the clock are also in increasingly short supply and in need of opportunities to increase their skills and education.”

Drawing on the experience of 17 Jobs to Careers projects, Flynn writes that “by working with the nation’s community colleges and creating on-the-job learning opportunities, we give frontline workers the education and support they need to become better at their jobs, advance to higher-level jobs, and build family-sustaining careers.”

Return to Top

Tweet, Tweet

Keep up to date on how innovations in education and workforce development can expand economic opportunity. Sign up to follow JFF on:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Linkedin

HOW CAN NEWSWIRE SERVE YOU?

We welcome your thoughts. Email us at newswire@jff.org. Please forward NEWSWIRE to your colleagues. To subscribe, go to the JFF Web site and click the link on the home page.

Jobs for the Future identifies, develops, and promotes new education and workforce strategies that help communities, states, and the nation compete in a global economy. In over 200 communities in 41 states, JFF improves the pathways leading from high school to college to family-sustaining careers.

Return to Top