Legislature(2005 - 2006)SENATE FINANCE 532
03/21/2006 05:00 PM Senate COMMITTEE ON UNIVERSITY OVERSIGHT
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| Alaska Higher Education and the Future | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON UNIVERSITY OVERSIGHT
March 21, 2006
5:05 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Gary Stevens, Chair
Senator Con Bunde
Senator Thomas Wagoner
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Ralph Seekins, Vice Chair
Senator Ben Stevens
Senator Lyman Hoffman
Senator Kim Elton
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Alaska Higher Education and the Future
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
See minutes from 2/7/06, 2/28/06 and 3/20/06 SUOV meetings
WITNESS REGISTER
Julie Bell, Education Program Director
National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)
7700 East First Place
Denver, CO 80230
POSITION STATEMENT: Introduced David Longanecker
David Longanecker, Executive Director
Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education
Denver, CO
POSITION STATEMENT: Delivered PowerPoint presentation
Wendy Redman, Vice President
University Relations
University of Alaska
P.O. Box 755000
Fairbanks, AK 99775
POSITION STATEMENT: Discussion participant
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR GARY STEVENS called the Senate Special Committee On
University Oversight meeting to order at 5:05:31 PM.
^Alaska Higher Education and the Future
CHAIR GARY STEVENS asked Ms. Bell to proceed.
5:05:45 PM
JULIE BELL, introduced Mr. Longanecker.
5:07:56 PM
DAVID LONGANECKER, Executive Director of the Western Interstate
Commission for Higher Education, (WICHE) delivered the following
PowerPoint presentation titled "Alaska Higher Education and the
Future: The Imperfect Storm."
5:09:09 PM
Slide:
Alaska's Unique Story: The Imperfect Storm
The Confluence of Three Waves (Not Huge But Significant)
Uncertain Demand for Higher Education
The Change in Who You Are Serving
Constrained Finances (or not)
Slide:
The First Wave - Uncertain Demand
· Countervailing demographic forces
· Stable recent enrollments despite substantial increases in
likely population
Slide:
What's pushing the wave?
1. Simple Demographics
· Projected 10 percent increase in college age
population (2005-2015)
· Projected 10 percent decrease in high school graduates
(2006-2016)
· Contrasted with a 25 percent increase in high-school
graduates (1996-2006)
· Even greater increase in initial college participation
(33 percent increase in freshman between 1996 and
2002, and more since)
· But slight decline (5 percent) in total enrollment
from 1993 to 2003
5:11:35 PM
SENATOR BUNDE asked for the source of the demographics.
MR. LONGANECKER responded the first numbers relating to the
projected population growth in Alaska over the next decade came
from the Census and the numbers on high school graduates came
from WICHE projections, which were updated two years ago.
SENATOR BUNDE said the Department of Labor has projected that in
the next ten years the broadest part of the Alaskan population
will be the very young and the very old. The 30-50 year age
range will represent the smallest population. He observed that
if WICHE were to figure in that information it might add "some
imperfection to our storm."
Senator Gary Wilken joined the meeting at 5:13:08 PM.
MR. LONGANECKER continued the presentation.
Slide:
2. Policy Goal - Greater post-secondary participation
· But high school completion going down (Measuring
Up 2004: B- on Preparation - down from a B+)
Alaska - 77 percent* (down from 81
percent in 1990)
U.S. - 75 percent*
*18-24 year olds with high-school degrees
from U.S. census
SENATOR BUNDE offered the explanation that during the 1990s
"empty diplomas" were given and now students must demonstrate a
certain level of proficiency to receive a diploma.
MR. LONGANECKER noted that Alaska had one of the sharpest
declines in the nation.
Slide:
Policy Goal - Greater post-secondary participation
· Increasing share going on to college
(Measuring Up: C on Participation; up from a
D+ in 2002)
Alaska - 47 percent (up from
40 percent in 1992)
WICHE West - 50 percent
U.S. - 59 percent
Slide:
3. Policy Goal - Lousy success in completing college
(Measuring Up: F on Completion)
· Associate degree production (per 100 high school
graduates)
Alaska - 13
WICHE West - 23
U.S. - 19
· Baccalaureate degree production (per 100 high
school graduates)
Alaska - 21
WICHE West - 44
U.S. - 48
5:16:24 PM
CHAIR GARY STEVENS explained that the fact that UA has open
admissions is often used as a justification for poor college
completion rates and it'd be interesting to compare it with
other colleges that have open admissions.
MR. LONGANECKER said that might be an explanation for the
baccalaureate degree completion rate, but it wouldn't logically
apply to the associate degree category.
He continued with the presentation.
Slide:
Why is This Important?
· World leaders in higher education attainment:
· Canada, Finland, Ireland, Japan, Korea.
· Second Tier:
· U.S., Australia, Belgium, France, Norway, Spain,
Sweden, U.K.
Declining participation in postsecondary
5:18:59 PM
Slide:
The Second Wave - Those we serve will be harder to serve
An increasing share of higher education's population is coming
from communities that higher education traditionally has not
served well.
· Communities of color will supply 44 percent of Alaska's
high school graduates by 2015-2016 (up for 38 percent
today)
· Both white, non-Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native
high school graduates will decline (21 percent and 8
percent, respectively)
5:22:11 PM
Slide:
Historic success, or lack thereof, of low-income students in
higher education
· In the U.S.: Participation dropped from 27.5 to 23.1
percent (1999-2001)
CHAIR GARY STEVENS mentioned the purchasing power of Pell
Grants.
MR. LONGANECKER acknowledged the Pell Grant issue and noted that
another reason is that the military is recruiting aggressively.
It's disturbing, he said, that you're more likely to go to
college if you're rich and not very smart than if you're poor
and very smart.
He continued the presentation.
Slide:
The Third Wave - Limited Resources (or not)
· Alaska provided 9.8 percent of state appropriations for
higher education in FY 2005
· The good news: That 9.8 percent is much more than 6.9
percent provided by Alaska in 1995
· The rest of story: The 9.8 percent is still less than the
12 percent WICHE average or the 10.8 percent national
average
5:26:36 PM
Slide:
The Net Effect on Institutional Resources
· Above national average in total resources by institution
type
· Function of the Alaska cost dilemma - It simply costs more
to do business in Alaska
· Lack of economies of scale
· Above average tuition levels (a bit more for
two-year students; average for four-year
students)
· More state support, on average
· A larger share of overall budget to research (again,
function of economies of scale)
Slide:
The Net Effect on Students
· The good news:
· On average, affordable price
· Reasonable tuition
· Low price compared to income
· Family income needed for college (NCHEMS)
· 4 years AK 21 percent, U.S. 29 percent
· 2 years: AK 20 percent, U.S. 22 percent
· The bad news: Financial Aid
· Excellent loan program for middle-income
· Awfully modest need-based financial aid
5:30:14 PM
Slide:
State Support for Financial Aid
· State need-grant aid per FTE student (2003-2004)
· Alaska: $0
· WICHE: $324
· U.S.: $417
· Washington: $505
· The news
· 2005-2006: $625,000 through ACPE
· 2006-2007: Government's initiative to
transfer $20 million will
provide another $1 million
annually
5:32:10 PM
Slide:
The Future: Projected Structural Deficits for Everyone
The chart shows the state and local surplus or
shortfall as a percent of baseline revenues.
MR. LONGANECKER explained that this is the demand for services
given current funding levels and revenue streams. Alaska is on
the national average on this parameter. However, because of the
changes in gas and oil revenues and what could happen in the
future, it's difficult to predict what Alaska's financial
circumstances will be in the future.
5:33:40 PM
SENATOR BUNDE mentioned data from the previous day indicating
that Wyoming funds higher education at a high rate.
MR. LONGANECKER clarified that the slide relates to state
budgets and not higher education funding. He agreed that Wyoming
has been generous and creative in their funding and he suspects
that many of the ideas came from Alaska.
5:35:11 PM
Slide:
The Makings for the Imperfect Storm
· Uncertain demand - 10 percent increase to 10 percent
decline
· 10 percent increase in college age population
· Limited resources (or not) -- potential 5 percent
structural deficit -- but gas and oil may save the day
5:36:14 PM
Slide:
Weathering This Imperfect Storm
· Maintain the status quo
· Lose ground on economic development
· Lose ground on quality of life
· Tackle the gnarly task - policies in synch
· Economically competitive
· High quality of life
· Socially equitable
· But not without sacrifice
· No silver bullets - you get what you pay for
5:38:46 PM
CHAIR GARY STEVENS mentioned that tuition is now the same or
nearly the same on all UA campuses and that more students are
entering the university system now, but fewer adults are
attending. He said those points deserve further discussion.
WENDY REDMAN, Vice President of University Relations for the
University of Alaska, said she could provide updated enrollment
information. In the last six years the overall enrollment for UA
is up 17 percent and first time freshmen enrollment is up 45
percent. She said that the data doesn't reflect that in Alaska
Native high school graduation rates are improving.
SENATOR WAGONER noted that the UA open admissions policy is
different than other structures. He asked Mr. Longanecker for
his opinion on whether that would have drawbacks or allow the
university to grow into a more quality institution.
MR. LONGANECKER expressed the view that outcomes are a better
judge than inputs and that that you could have a quality system
as an open admissions system. In fact, he said, it would be
difficult not to have open admissions in Alaska and still have
broad access. There are tradeoffs, but you don't have to have
selective admissions to make it work, he said.
SENATOR WAGONER responded his point is that with true open
admissions the only classes that students can't enroll in at
registration are those with prerequisites. In maintaining that
policy the university might be wasting instructional funds.54903
MR. LONGANECKER said the advantage of a combined system is that
community colleges are funded better that way.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS acknowledged that the goal is to get more college
graduates, but that he doesn't feel bad that students take courses
and don't always receive a degree.
MR. LONGANECKER agreed that some students attend college for purposes
other than attaining a degree and there's nothing wrong with that.
The unfortunate thing is that some students aren't well served and so
they don't benefit very much from the education.
MS. REDMAN reported that the university is using Accuplacement and
other programs to more accurately place students in classes for which
they are prepared. She acknowledged that she has a bias for the
community college system, but a difficulty associated with a combined
system is that community college programs tend to lack status. She
noted that it's been advantageous that President Hamilton values
workforce training.
She said her last point related to polling. When the Anchorage campus
followed-up on students who dropped out of a degree program or just a
particular course, the overwhelming response was that the student got
what they came for. She acknowledged that dropout rate is an
important measure and more follow-up is needed.
SENATOR GARY WILKEN said it's been a pleasure to work with President
Hamilton. His leadership has really turned the university around in a
short number of years and he's happy to have played a small part in
that success. He told Mr. Longanecker that he found his comparisons
interesting.
MR. LONGANECKER responded the difficulty with Alaska is figuring out
how to make the comparisons.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS recapped the presentation and emphasized that he
would like to have further discussion on need-based and merit-based
scholarships.
MS. REDMAN commented that the data is interesting and one thing the
university would continue to work on is degree completion. She noted
that Alaska has a relatively low number of jobs that require
baccalaureate degrees. That provides some explanation for the low
completion data because students may need just a class or two or a
certification of some type so they didn't intend to stay to get a
degree.
MR. LONGANECKER remarked that the adult student population would be
an important part in the overall fabric of the university in the
years to come.
MS. REDMAN added she's been alarmed at the drop in the number of
older part-time students and the university is making an effort to
regain those students even though faculties tend to prefer to teach
at traditional times.
MR. LONGANECKER acknowledged that would take work because in Alaska
there is a lack of alternatives due to a lack of population base. The
system certainly isn't consumer driven as it is in Portland, for
example.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS observed it's been his experience that evening and
weekend class schedules are favored by students but not by teachers.
MS. REDMAN mentioned the term "swirling" and said the trend is to
move from a faculty-centered curriculum to one in which the students
are in control. Students are able to take courses from any number of
schools that are in different locations. Sooner or later, she said,
some entrepreneur will develop a system to hold students' accumulated
credits so that there's a common transcript.
MR. LONGANECKER said because of population, Alaska will have to rely
on clever people in the university to provide a business-smart
education-rich approach for students.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS agreed it's not a good idea to ignore institutions
that are offering classes in new and different ways because UA could
lose its students to other systems.
MR. LONGANECKER mentioned the new exchange program between WICHE
institutions that the University of Alaska, Anchorage has been active
in helping to develop. Although it isn't as open as when students
choose everything, it will provide broader access than is currently
available.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS thanked Mr. Longanecker and Ms. Bell and adjourned
the meeting at 6:12:55 PM.
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