Access Access

Christine Johnson, Ph.DChristine Johnson, Ph.D

Changing Face of Changing Face of AmericaAmerica

The Degree GapThe Degree Gap

Percent with BA or higher (2000)Percent with BA or higher (2000) 28% of whites 28% of whites 17% of African Americans 17% of African Americans 11% of Hispanics11% of Hispanics

Relationship of Income to Relationship of Income to College AccessCollege Access

RateRate

88.8%88.8%

68.2%68.2%

53.3%53.3%

Family IncomeFamily Income

> $74,584> $74,584

$25,064-$47,405$25,064-$47,405

< $25,064< $25,064

High Skilled & Unskilled Jobs as a % of the Workforce, High Skilled & Unskilled Jobs as a % of the Workforce, 2000 to 20122000 to 2012

18.4% 19.2%20.7%

13.0%11.8% 10.9%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Professional & RelatedOccupations

Production, installation,maintenance & Repair

Occupations

2000

2002

2012

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Societal ChangeSocietal Change

Civilian Labor Force by Educational Attainment 1970 to 2004

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

40.0%

45.0%19

70

1971

1972

1973

1974

1975

1976

1977

1978

1979

1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

High School Graduate

Less Than 4 Years High School

1-3 Years College

Bachelor's Degree or More

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Shared Prosperity?Shared Prosperity?

Projected Growth in Supply and Demand of Workers With Some Projected Growth in Supply and Demand of Workers With Some Postsecondary Education, 1998 to 2028Postsecondary Education, 1998 to 2028

60,000

70,000

80,000

90,000

100,000

110,000

120,000

130,000

140,000

150,000

1998 2008 2018 2028

Tho

usan

ds

Jobs requiring some postsecondary experience

Workers with some postsecondary experience

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau and National Alliance of Business

Education RequiredEducation Required

75% of new jobs require some 75% of new jobs require some post-secondary education.post-secondary education.

Only 35% of Americans (25-34) Only 35% of Americans (25-34) have 2 or more years post-have 2 or more years post-secondary education.secondary education.

-Source: 2000 data-Source: 2000 dataNational Information Center for Higher Ed.National Information Center for Higher Ed.

America’s Future at Stake

Accountability AgainAccountability Again

More focus on success of students—More focus on success of students—not just accessnot just access

Evidence of student learning will be Evidence of student learning will be required by accrediting agencies, required by accrediting agencies, states, and federal governmentstates, and federal government

Colleges will move toward a culture Colleges will move toward a culture of evidence and use of dataof evidence and use of data

More Focus on K-12 More Focus on K-12 TransitionsTransitions

Expectations for HE need to be Expectations for HE need to be made clearmade clear

Transitions need to be improvedTransitions need to be improved League’s CCTILeague’s CCTI GEAR-UPGEAR-UP Concurrent enrollmentConcurrent enrollment Middle College HSMiddle College HS

Access is Access is notnot enough – enough –

must be ACCESS and SUCCESSmust be ACCESS and SUCCESS

““The crucial issue is The crucial issue is “attending vs. not attending “attending vs. not attending

college.”college.” The mere fact of attending college may be The mere fact of attending college may be

more important than where one goes.”more important than where one goes.”(Ernest T.  Pascarella and Patrick T. Terenzini)(Ernest T.  Pascarella and Patrick T. Terenzini)

(3 decades of research and most extensive (3 decades of research and most extensive study of how college changes people found study of how college changes people found unequivocally that increased factual unequivocally that increased factual knowledge and intellectual skills; changes knowledge and intellectual skills; changes in values and attitudes, principled in values and attitudes, principled reasoning to judge moral issues; and life reasoning to judge moral issues; and life choices that impact lifestyles and nature of choices that impact lifestyles and nature of their children’s lives)their children’s lives)

ACCESS ISSUESACCESS ISSUES

Affordability; preparation; guidance and Affordability; preparation; guidance and counseling; 2 to 4 year transfers; counseling; 2 to 4 year transfers;  transfer of low income/minority at lower  transfer of low income/minority at lower rate than middle income and white rate than middle income and white students; quality of learning experience; students; quality of learning experience; alignment across education sectors;alignment across education sectors;

Agreement about what students ought to Agreement about what students ought to be learning (curriculum/standards); be learning (curriculum/standards); shared student information across shared student information across sectorssectors

Recommendations: Recommendations:

Developing methods to assess learning Developing methods to assess learning gains and college added-valuegains and college added-value

Evaluating use of student success data Evaluating use of student success data to drive institutional changeto drive institutional change

Documenting student involvement in Documenting student involvement in college (involvement raises college (involvement raises retention/graduation)retention/graduation)

Tracking academic proficiency and Tracking academic proficiency and reporting progressreporting progress

Recommendations:Recommendations:

Financial incentives to shift from Financial incentives to shift from enrollment driven institutions to success enrollment driven institutions to success driven institutions with low income/first driven institutions with low income/first generation student populationsgeneration student populations

Two to four year transfer of low income Two to four year transfer of low income and underserved students as institutional and underserved students as institutional and state strategic prioritiesand state strategic priorities

Shift from “cost” to “investment” mindset Shift from “cost” to “investment” mindset

Thank you.Thank you.