Legislature(2005 - 2006)SENATE FINANCE 532
02/28/2006 05:00 PM Senate COMMITTEE ON UNIVERSITY OVERSIGHT
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| Overview: National Education Trends -national Conference of State Legislatures | |
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON UNIVERSITY OVERSIGHT
February 28, 2006
5:11 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Gary Stevens, Chair
Senator Ralph Seekins, Vice Chair
Senator Con Bunde
Senator Lyman Hoffman
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Thomas Wagoner
Senator Ben Stevens
Senator Kim Elton
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Overview: National Education Trends - Julie Bell, National
Conference of State Legislatures
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
See minutes from 2/7/06 SUOV meetings
WITNESS REGISTER
Julie Bell, Education Program Director
National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)
7700 East First Place
Denver, CO 80230
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented overview: "National Education
Trends"
Wendy Redman, Vice President
University Relations
University of Alaska
P.O. Box 755000
Fairbanks, AK 99775
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided UA information related to the NCSL
overview
Pat Pitney, Associate Vice President
Planning & Budget Development
University of Alaska
P.O. Box 755000
Fairbanks, AK 99775
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information related UA retention
rates
Mark Hamilton, President
University of Alaska
P.O. Box 755000
Fairbanks, AK 99775
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on NCSL overview as it relates to
UA
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR GARY STEVENS called the Senate Special Committee On
University Oversight meeting to order at 5:11:15 PM. Present
were Senators Con Bunde, Lyman Hoffman and Chair Gary Stevens.
^Overview: National Education Trends -National Conference of
State Legislatures
5:11:34 PM
CHAIR GARY STEVENS announced the committee would hear from Julie
Bell who is with the National Conference of State Legislatures.
SENATOR BUNDE mentioned that he would like to discuss the Alaska
Scholars Program at a future meeting.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS agreed.
JULIE BELL, Education Program Director, National Conference of
State Legislatures (NCSL), opened her presentation with the
observation that Alaska isn't alone in reviewing issues related
to postsecondary education including the relationship between
the state and its institutions of higher education.
She explained that the education program at NCSL has 12 people
who work on the same education issues that the Legislature is
currently evaluating. That includes the spectrum of issues
related to school readiness, the K-12 system, postsecondary, and
adult education/workforce development. In addition she said she
serves as the NCSL policy expert on higher education issues.
MS. BELL advised that her immediate purpose was to suggest a
framework for the work that the committee is doing and she would
focus on broad fundamental objectives of state higher education
policy and briefly review how Alaska is doing.
She suggested that the next step would be for committee members
to discuss the findings with the higher education community to
get a full picture of Alaska's performance. Clearly, she said
there historical, political and other factors that make each
state different and therefore influence the outcomes.
MS. BELL mentioned the three resources she had provided, which
would give background information as well as specific data.
Included were "Investment in State Postsecondary Education,"
"Measuring up 2004 - The State Report Card on Higher Education -
Alaska," and the NCSL PowerPoint presentation "A Framework for
Evaluating Higher Education Performance in Alaska."
5:17:28 PM
MS. BELL began the PowerPoint presentation saying that the
following data explain why state legislatures are taking the
time to understand how higher education is performing and
thinking about what policy reforms might be necessary. Clearly,
investment in higher education benefits individuals as well as
the state.
Slide: The Importance of Higher Education
· The annual income of a worker with a bachelor's degree (BA)
averages 80 percent higher than that of a high school
graduate.
· Over a lifetime, the gap in earnings between those with a
high school diploma and a BA or higher, exceeds $1 million.
Slide: The Importance of Higher Education
· The demographic distribution of who goes to college and who
doesn't is not equal. Only 54 percent of high school
graduates from the lowest income families enroll in college
compared to 82 percent of those with family incomes of more
than $86,000.
MS. BELL said the data clearly indicates the need to reach lower
income students to support successful access to higher
education.
5:19:06 PM
Senator Seekins joined the meeting.
Slide: The Importance of Higher Education
Education pays:
· College graduates earn more and pay more taxes than high
school graduates.
SENATOR BUNDE interjected that isn't the case in Alaska.
MS. BELL clarified that the RAND Organization data has shown
that each dollar spent equalizing college entrance rates across
racial and ethnic groups saves the public between $2 and $3.
It's a combination of reduced expenditure and increased revenue,
which leads to the second point on the slide.
· College graduates are more financially independent and they
rely on public services and subsidies to a lesser extent.
· College graduates have higher levels of civic participation
than high school graduates.
5:22:13 PM
Slide: Six Dimensions for Evaluating State Higher Education
Policy
· Preparation
· Participation
· Affordability
· Completion
· Benefits
· Learning.
Slide: Caveats
· The framework isn't perfect. It's intended to spark a
different context for conversations about higher education
policy.
· Categories are not independent of each other but
interrelated.
· Alaska has unique characteristics.
· More money isn't the solution - better use of money is a
better solution.
Slide: Preparation
How well prepared are eighth school students to enter
college or other post-secondary activities?
Indicators used in Measuring Up 2004:
The degree to which students are enrolled in
challenging high school courses,
particularly math and science.
Scores on national and state assessments.
Participation in college entrance exams and
advanced placement exams.
The number of high quality teachers teaching
in their major in the K-12 system.
Measuring Up 2004 gives Alaska a B- grade for preparation.
Alaska's Strengths:
Compared with other states, Alaska's eighth
graders perform well on national assessments in
math.
Alaska performs well in terms of the number of
students taught by well-qualified teachers. The
state's improvement on this measure has
outpaced other states in the last decade.
Alaska's Weaknesses:
Low-income eighth graders perform very
poorly on national assessments in math.
Alaska has shown a substantial decline on
this measure in the last decade according
to national trends.
MS. BELL reviewed the following Graded Information and Key Facts
on page 5 of Measuring Up 2004:
· Extremely small proportions of 11th and 12th graders
score well on advanced placement tests, but a fairly
large proportion score well on college entrance exams.
· Among young adults, 11 percent receive a General
Education Development (GED) diploma rather than a high
school diploma. That is the highest percentage in the
nation.
5:28:03 PM
CHAIR GARY STEVENS referenced the Change in Graded Measures from
page 5 and commented it's an interesting dichotomy that both of
the following are happening at the same time.
· The percentage of low-income eighth graders performing well
on national assessments in math has declined substantially
in the last decade.
· In the same period, the percentage of secondary school
students taught by qualified teachers has increased
substantially.
MS. BELL agreed it's an interesting observation that bears
further scrutiny.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS reviewed SAT/ACT scores under K-12 Student
Achievement on page 5 and remarked there is a stark difference
between Alaska scores and those from the top states.
5:30:16 PM
MS. BELL moved to the second dimension.
Slide: Participation
Do residents of all ages have sufficient
opportunity to enroll in education and training
beyond high school?
Indicators used in Measuring Up 2004:
The rate that high school students
continue on to college
Enrollment levels of traditional aged
college students
Enrollment levels of working-aged
(adult) students.
Measuring Up 2004 gives Alaska a C grade for preparation.
Alaska's Strengths:
A fairly large percentage of working-age
adults are currently enrolled in college
part-time. However, in the last ten years
Alaska has experienced the steepest decline
in the nation on this measure.
Alaska's Weaknesses:
The likelihood of ninth graders enrolling in
college within four years has dropped more
than the national decline. The reason is the
decrease in the percentage of students
graduating from high school.
Slide: The Alaska Student Pipeline
The information is from the "Policy Alert Supplement" by the
National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.
· In Alaska, for every 100 ninth grade students:
· 61 students graduate four years later. The
national average is 68 students, but the top
performing state has 90 of 100 ninth graders
graduating.
· 30 students enter college immediately. The
national average is 40 and the top
performing state has 60 students entering
immediately.
· Alaska data isn't available for how many
students are still enrolled in college the
second year, but the national average is 27
and the top performing state has 44.
· 12 students graduate with either an
associate's degree within three years or a
bachelor's degree within six years. [UA data
indicates that number is closer to six or
eight students.]
SENATOR BUNDE asked where retention information comes from for
other states.
MS. BELL responded she didn't know why Alaska information isn't
available.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS advised that the University of Alaska (UA)
representative had that information.
5:34:07 PM
PAT PITNEY, Associate Vice President of Planning & Budget
Development for the University of Alaska, reported that the
number is 17. The retention rate for first year baccalaureate
degree students is about 70 percent and just over 50 percent for
associate degree students. She explained that the information is
readily available; UA just doesn't happen to participate in that
particular test vender survey of the ACT.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS expressed confidence that UA could provide
any information that isn't available in the report.
SENATOR BUNDE asked if the final figure means that 12 out of the
30 immediately entering students ultimately graduate with an
associate or bachelor's degree.
MS. PITNEY said yes, but the numbers are overstated; it's closer
to 6 or 8 students rather than 12.
SENATOR BUNDE noted that the data tracks traditional students
who enter college right out of high school, but Alaska has a
great number of non-traditional students. He asked for the
graduation rate for all students.
MS. PITNEY responded that number is relatively arbitrary because
part-time students can take eight years to complete a four-
semester degree, but the number of people who start classes and
then actually complete a degree is significantly lower.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS mentioned that Alaska is unique in that many
people take the long-term path to complete a bachelor's degree.
MS. BELL reiterated the point that thinking about the
information in terms of a student pipeline is helpful in
determining where the state is losing students and what policies
could be targeted to those particular points.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS read the Change in Graded Measures on page 7,
which says that the percentage of working-age adults enrolled
part-time in college-level education or training has declined by
29 percent and stands as the largest decline in the nation over
the past decade. That figure is remarkable and pops out as a
major issue, he said. Although the university should be
congratulated for bringing more recent high school graduates
into the system, he questioned whether something hadn't been
lost in the transition.
He noted that in Alaska 1,680 more students leave the state than
enter to attend college. Also, about 40 percent of Alaska high
school graduates who go to college attend school out of state.
He asked Ms. Bell to comment.
MS. BELL acknowledged the number of students leaving stands out
as a particular issue. She suggested it would be interesting to
know the return rate after graduation.
SENATOR SEEKINS commented he would like to know more than just
the raw numbers about the trend for students going out of state.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS agreed that would be interesting, as would
information about the impact that the Alaska Scholars Program
has had on that number.
MS. BELL presented the third dimension.
Slide: Affordability
How affordable higher education is for students and
families?
Indicators used in Measuring Up 2004 Report:
Tuition levels relative to family income
levels.
Availability of need-based financial aid
Levels of student debt.
Measuring Up 2004 gives Alaska an F for affordability.
Most states scored poorly in this dimension, Ms. Bell said. The
review points include tuition level relative to family income
level, need-based financial aid, and levels of student debt.
Alaska's Strengths:
None listed
Alaska's Weaknesses:
Net college costs for low and middle income
students to attend public four-year colleges
and universities represent about a third of
their annual income. These institutions
enroll over 90 percent of students in the
state. Net college costs equal tuition,
room, and board minus financial aid.
5:44:29 PM
SENATOR BUNDE referenced Alaska community college and public 4-
year college/university affordability percentages on page 8 and
asked what 20 percent and 21 percent means.
MS. BELL explained it's the percent of family income, for all
income groups, that's needed to pay for college expenses.
SENATOR BUNDE directed attention to a chart on page 1 of the
"Investment in State Postsecondary Education" indicating that
tuition in Alaska is lower than the national average. He asked
how that correlates with the information just given.
MS. BELL responded it's a different picture when you look at the
percent of family income that it takes to pay for college.
SENATOR BUNDE remarked Alaska would always get an F because it
costs more to live here.
MS. BELL said that's a fair comment.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS recapped in Alaska it takes about one-fifth
of a family's income to pay for college.
MS. BELL said yes that's true overall, but page 9 of Measuring
Up 2004 shows a different picture because it breaks out costs
according to different income levels. According to that data,
families in the lowest income bracket pay 50 percent of their
income to attend a public 4-year college or university. That
contrasts sharply with the highest income families that use just
7 percent of their income to pay net college costs. It clearly
indicates that the burden is on the lower income population.
That's the power of looking at the numbers when they're broken
down opposed to the overall average given on page 8, she said.
5:48:48 PM
SENATOR SEEKINS questioned whether she was characterizing that
as a barrier to going to college because the state has a
generous student loan program.
MS. BELL responded she views that as a significant barrier.
Although Alaska has a generous loan program many families can't
afford loans. She suggested that need-based financial aid
impacts that population more than loans.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS referenced page 8 and noted that Alaska
hasn't invested in need-based financial aid in the past decade
and doesn't offer low-priced college opportunities. He said it'd
be interesting to find out more about that.
MS. BELL advised that Alaska isn't the only state facing tough
issues related to affordability for students.
Slide: Trends in Affordability
· States have decreased the share of higher education funding
in state budgets.
· Tuition has increased significantly and in part as a
response to decreased state budgets for higher education.
In the ten-year period that ended in 2004 and 2005 tuition
and fees at public four-year colleges rose 61 percent.
· More students are borrowing more money. Nearly 64 percent
of the bachelor degree recipients have had to borrow to pay
for college compared to 49 percent a decade ago. In 2004
Alaska students who received a bachelor's degree had an
averaged of $3,300 in loans.
· States are putting more money into merit-based financial
aid instead of need-based aid.
· Lower income students are increasingly being priced out of
college.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS noted that the Governor has suggested
increasing to 15 percent the program giving the highest
achieving high school students free tuition at UA campuses. With
that in mind, he said he'd like to hear from UA on the topic of
need-based versus merit-based financial aid.
MS. BELL commented it's important to reward merit, but those
scholarships do draw money away from need-based aid.
SENATOR BUNDE asked if the Alaska Scholars Program figures in
affordability.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS responded it probably would because a variety
of family income groups would be represented in the program.
MS. BELL said she wasn't prepared to respond, but she would give
it some thought.
5:55:00 PM
SENATOR BUNDE asked if the university had a response.
WENDY REDMAN, Vice President of University Relations for the
University of Alaska, advised that the Alaska Scholars Program
is privately funded so that data wouldn't be reflected in
Measuring Up 2004.
SENATOR BUNDE asked how many UA students attend under
scholarship.
MS. PITNEY replied about 450 come in each year. 1,600 students
have come in on the Alaska Scholars Program and are either
finishing a degree or working on a graduate degree.
MS. REDMAN reminded members that many states received an F for
affordability. When the study was done there wasn't any money
for need-based financial aid in Alaska. Last year the state
invested $550,000 and the Governor is proposing another million
this year in need-based aid.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS said he'd like to discuss the Alaska Scholars
Program at some point.
MS. REDMAN offered to do a complete survey at some point. Those
students are tracked into jobs and it's known that almost 90
percent of the Alaska Scholars are working and living in Alaska.
It's also known that more than 80 percent of the students who
leave the state to attend college never return.
5:58:15 PM
MS. BELL presented the next dimension.
Slide: Completion
Do students progress toward and complete their
certificates and degrees in a timely manner?
Indicators used in Measuring Up 2004:
The degree to which students return year
after year (persistence).
Completion of bachelors' degrees within 5
and 6 years.
Measuring Up 2004 gives Alaska an F for completion.
Alaska's Strengths:
None listed.
Alaska's Weaknesses:
Compared with other states, a low percentage
of first-time, full-time students earn a
bachelor's degree within six years of
enrolling in college.
A very small proportion of students complete
certificates and degrees relative to the
number enrolled.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS questioned whether the UA open admissions
policy is unusual when compared to other states.
MS. BELL said she was unclear about how Alaska considers an open
admission policy and how it might impact students.
MS. REDMAN explained that 15 years ago the University of Alaska
merged its community colleges and universities into a single
system. In that process open community college type admittance
was instituted for all campuses. That policy skews the
comparative data, but Alaska completion rates would be low
compared to national averages in any event. However, when
comparable university programs are analyzed the data looks very
different. She acknowledged that it's an unusual and unique
model.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS emphasized it's an important consideration.
SENATOR SEEKINS said if not completing a program in a timely
manner is viewed as a negative, then that must be balanced with
the fact that the system allows open entry over a long period to
provide opportunity for people to work toward a degree or
further training in their particular job skill.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS asked that the university review the report
and make an effort to provide any data to fill in blank spots.
MS. REDMAN agreed to do so then referencing Senator Seekins'
last comment, she added the university has a unique situation in
that few students are there because it's an easy lifestyle.
6:06:01 PM
MS. BELL presented the next dimension.
Slide: Benefits
What benefits does the state receive as a result of
having a highly educated population?
The indicators used in Measuring Up 2004:
Number of adults with bachelors and advanced
degrees.
Percent of the population that votes,
contributes to charity, and other public
activities.
Adult literacy rates.
Measuring Up 2004 gives Alaska a B for benefits.
Alaska's Strengths:
The state scored well in all the foregoing
indicators.
Alaska's Weaknesses:
Over the past decade, the gap has widened
between whites and minority ethnic groups in
the percentage who have a bachelor's degree.
She noted that on page 11 of Measuring Up 2004 under the section
labeled Other Key Facts it says that if all ethnic groups had
the same educational attainment and earnings as whites, total
personal income in the state would be about $802 million higher,
and the state would realize about $281 million in additional tax
revenues.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS remarked there is no state income tax in
Alaska, but the disparity between ethnic groups is a telling
issue that the committee would come back to.
6:08:26 PM
Slide: Learning
How well are students learning in their higher
education experience?
Indicators used in Measuring Up 2004:
No adequate indicators.
Potential indicators include literacy levels
of adult residents, graduates ready for
advanced practice, performance of college
graduates.
Measuring Up 2004 gives Alaska and all other states an
incomplete because states aren't measuring this indicator well
enough to know how they're doing.
Some states are beginning to collect information on adult
literacy, graduates ready for advanced practice, and performance
of college graduates. The point is that learning is important
and states aren't collecting adequate data to know how well
they're doing.
SENATOR BUNDE mentioned rigorous teacher preparation tests.
MS. REDMAN responded accrediting agencies are requiring more
learning assessments. UA tracks on licensures for all
professional students so it has good data on how that's working.
SENATOR BUNDE mentioned recent news articles related to "dumbing
down" of college graduates and asked if other states are
similarly charged.
MS. BELL responded that could be a future conversation.
6:12:55 PM
Slide: Next Steps
· Use the information to ask more questions and get more
data.
· Talk with the higher education community to uncover the
story behind the numbers. That's the benefit of using the
Measuring Up 2004 report and thinking about the framework.
· Identify together the fundamental state priorities for
higher education. Ask which dimensions Alaska wants to
tackle.
· After that conversation you can talk about specific policy
approaches to obtain those objectives.
· Learn about policy approaches that are working in other
states and institutions.
6:15:04 PM
SENATOR BUNDE questioned whether older students are factored
into the completion equation because many in that population
aren't on a degree path.
MS. BELL agreed that data for traditional and non-traditional
students should be accounted for separately because non-
traditional students are an important segment of higher
education users.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS asked President Hamilton if he had any
comments.
6:17:02 PM
MARK HAMILTON, President of the University of Alaska, stated
that he looks forward to the continuing dialog. He noted that UA
had continued with the missions and measures even though the
legislative requirement had been dropped so the sort of data
that was under discussion was readily available.
MS. REDMAN suggested that the policy questions listed on page 4
of Measuring Up 2004 would provide a guide for productive
discussion.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS thanked the participants.
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Gary Stevens adjourned the meeting at 6:20:02 PM.
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