Legislature(2007 - 2008)BUTROVICH 205
03/30/2007 08:00 AM Senate SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Consideration: College Affordability | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
March 30, 2007
8:06 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Gary Stevens, Chair
Senator Charlie Huggins, Vice Chair
Senator Gary Wilken
Senator Bettye Davis
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Donny Olson
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Consideration: College Affordability
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record.
WITNESS REGISTER
Saichi Oba, Enrollment Officer
University of Alaska
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Available for questions
Pat Pitney, Director of Budget and Institutional Research
University of Alaska
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Available for questions
Pete Kelly
University of Alaska Board of Regents
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Available for questions
Diane Barrans, Executive Director
Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education (ACPE)
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Available for questions
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR GARY STEVENS called the Senate Special Committee on
Education meeting to order at 8:06:50 AM. Present at the call to
order were Senators Wilken, Davis, Huggins, and Chair Stevens.
^CONSIDERATION: COLLEGE AFFORDABILITY
CHAIR STEVENS said that the purpose of the meeting was to talk
about ways to bring down the costs of college in Alaska; he said
that the greatest concern is making the community college system
entry as easy and affordable as possible. In Alaska, the
community college system has been absorbed into the university
system, which is making it hard for people to enter two year
schools. University tuition is low, but community schools are
comparatively pricey.
He referenced a report on national college tuition prices that
shows that Alaska has been graded poorly on college
affordability; there's no major difference between the prices in
low and higher level college. For the population at lower or
middle income levels, the percentage of income required to go to
school is huge.
He added that it's important to realize that Alaska needs to
catch up with the rest of the country in lowering community
college fees; high prices are unfair to the Alaska public. He
said that he has introduced a bill to separate the University of
Alaska (UA) system from the community college system, which
hopefully won't be necessary but may open the conversation. He
explained the history of the community college system in Alaska
and why he wishes to get to a lower-cost system; colleges need
to pay attention to students with financial difficulties.
8:14:49 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS commented that a lot of states did poorly on the
report previously referenced.
CHAIR STEVENS said that the report looks at the percentage of
income required to fund a community college education.
SENATOR HUGGINS said that he agreed with the need to lower
costs, because school needs to be convenient and affordable for
certain students. It's illogical that community colleges would
cost the same as four-year schools.
CHAIR STEVENS referenced a study that shows the importance of
lower-cost community colleges.
8:17:16 AM
SENATOR WILKEN agreed that the issue is important, and said he
would hope that the UA sees the report. He pointed out that
university tuition in Alaska is low but community colleges are
high, which doesn't compare well with other states.
8:19:11 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS referenced a page of the report to remark that
some of the numbers are unclear.
CHAIR STEVENS said that he doesn't know how the report numbers
are categorized; the committee should concern itself more with
the issue than the numbers. He commented that some people in his
district find attending out-of-state schools to be cheaper than
living in Alaska and attending school here.
8:21:33 AM
SAICHI OBA, Enrollment Officer with the University of Alaska,
said that the UA struggles with this situation as well, and the
issue should be one of affordability more than price.
Nationally, 11 percent of community college funds come from
local municipalities and so the schools can accordingly lower
tuition, but in Alaska this isn't the case for the most part.
He commented that community campuses are opportunities to serve
people who can't travel, and they're a vital link for people
aspiring to a four-year degree. Most of the campuses run at a
high cost model; he's aware of the report mentioned, and the
level of financial support given in many states to needy
students is higher than in Alaska.
8:26:17 AM
CHAIR STEVENS said that Alaska's school system was built
differently, not starting with local support, which was perhaps
the wrong way to begin.
MR. OBAI said that he was unaware of that dynamic; many
communities with campuses could be considered to be in financial
difficulty, so that complicates the problem.
CHAIR STEVENS said that over half the students in the UA system
come from the integrated community schools; it does seem that
something has been lost in the melding of the two, as important
as it was.
8:28:44 AM
PAT PITNEY, Director of Budget and Institutional Research for
the UA, said that she's interested in the cost and revenue side
of the matter, and explained that several campuses base much of
their operation on tuition; lowering tuition costs would mean
the money would have to come from a replacement source. What's
been lost through the integration has been some of the identity
of the schools, but the improvement of continuing education has
been a great gain. In terms of additional degree offerings, the
associate degrees offerings, which are the main goal of
community colleges, have increased the most.
8:31:42 AM
CHAIR STEVENS agreed that there were reasons for consolidation,
and asked when the consolidation took place.
MS. PITNEY replied that it was in 1987, when there were 11
separately accredited community colleges in the state. There was
much less assistance in terms of support, and going back to the
old model wouldn't be a good solution.
CHAIR STEVENS replied that there were many advantages to the
consolidation including easier transferal of credit, but when
there were two systems the cost of classes was more readily
identifiable; perhaps this needs to be corrected.
MS. PITNEY said that the differences among the faculty have been
preserved, and the cost per credit is differentiated in
community schools. The exact distinction may not be as clear as
in the 4-year schools.
8:36:05 AM
CHAIR STEVENS said that the problem is huge and can't be fixed
in a single day, but across the country school chancellors are
trying to lower costs and we can't continue blaming the problem
on various issues; we should see if there's a solution to be
found.
MS. PITNEY said that the UA is looking into the problem now.
Community campuses are a key piece of the UA system; over half
of high-demand graduates have taken classes at more than one UA
school.
CHAIR STEVENS said that community involvement is important as
well.
8:39:03 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS referenced the tuition study, and said that the
national average for community college costs shows that Alaska
costs are among the highest; he asked for Ms. Pitney's comments
on national trends.
MS. PITNEY said that the UA recognizes this differential; Alaska
community college access costs are significantly higher, and UA
campuses have been told that they could not raise tuition costs
but would have to cut some conveniences and programs. The state
needs to provide more need-based aid, which is currently
insufficient; the university can't offer enough to meet
everyone's needs.
8:42:21 AM
CHAIR STEVENS said that no state has a particularly good rating
in the previously referenced report.
SENATOR WILKEN commented that he would be interested in seeing
what the regents are doing about the issue.
8:43:20 AM
PETE KELLY, regent for the University of Alaska, said that there
has been discussion about letting separate campuses decide their
own tuition rates; the relative affordability of school is more
important than the actual price. He thanked the committee for
discussing the issue, and said that there's generally not enough
discussion about the university; the UA is thrilled to see the
legislature take an interest in the university besides its
budget. If community colleges decide to become more affordable,
it would cost them greatly without a way of replacing the money
through other means. He gave an example of history of higher
education in the US, and reminded the committee that recouping
from adjustments takes time and money.
8:47:47 AM
MR. OBA said that the differential tuition task force has been
in place since the previous fall, and there's been extensive
discussion about the matter of lowering costs. Some of the
results of analysis are staggering; enrollment, for example,
would have to be increased 50 percent to reach a revenue-neutral
situation.
8:49:42 AM
CHAIR STEVENS said that there shouldn't be any conflict with the
board. The issue of differential is still there though, and
despite reasonable four-year tuition, the two-year tuition has
suffered.
MR. KELLY said that the university is certainly aware of the
issue.
8:51:01 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS asked for the number of students remaining in-
state to go to school, and added that nationally 80 percent of
students remain in state.
MR. KELLY replied that the number of students remaining in state
is around 54 percent. Only two years ago the 50 percent mark was
reached, at the same time that 50 percent of Alaskan graduates
began choosing to go to college.
8:52:41 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS asked if the UA Scholars program has helped with
student retention.
MR. KELLY replied that it is a major catalyst, but it's not the
only element. A big difference that is does make is that now
that the smartest kids in the class are going to the UA system,
the other students consider the UA schools as an option as well.
8:54:03 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS remarked that some schools in other states have
legacy scholarships, and asked if that would be feasible in
Alaska.
MR. KELLY said that around 90 percent of the UA Scholars program
graduates tend to stay in Alaska.
8:55:44 AM
MS. PITNEY said that there is a legacy program in the UA system;
any child of an alumnus can attend at in-state tuition rates.
SENATOR HUGGINS remarked that the college affordability study
states that private university faculty have higher salaries, and
asked for the difference in salaries in Alaska schools.
MS. PITNEY said that the UA system serves 93 percent of the
students in the state, so the numbers of private school staff
and students in Alaska are very low.
SENATOR HUGGINS said that he had expected that public school
staff would be paid less than private school staff.
8:58:02 AM
CHAIR STEVENS said that needs-based aid is important, and asked
Diane Barrans for comment.
DIANE BARRANS, Executive Director for the Alaska Commission on
Postsecondary Education, said that the bottom line of the issue
is affordability; in Alaska the percentage of income that goes
to education is too high and deters too many people from
attending college. The governor has a proposal in the budget
this year to increase needs-based aid that will bring Alaska to
the national average in terms of community college
affordability. The impact of this bill to low-income families
would be huge; it would raise the aspirations of Alaskan
students. There's a big personal and public benefit to higher
education.
9:01:34 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS asked if matching funds from the family could be
proposed, including Permanent Fund Dividend savings.
MS. BARRANS said that in early outreach efforts ways of saving
for college are encouraged, including the Permanent Fund
Dividend education savings fund, but many times the money is
just not available for education.
CHAIR STEVENS thanked the presenters, and, there being no
further business to come before the committee, adjourned the
meeting at 9:03:38 AM.
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