Press Release - CO Wins Grant to Improve Higher Ed Efficiency
OFFICE OF GOVERNOR BILL RITTER, JR
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TUESDAY, DEC. 16, 2008
CONTACTS:
John Karakoulakis, Colo. Dept. of Higher Education, 303-866-4742
Kevin Corcoran, Lumina Foundation, (317) 951-5493
COLORADO WINS GRANT TO IMPROVE HIGHER-ED EFFICIENCY
Gov. Bill Ritter announced today that the Lumina Foundation for Education has selected Colorado as one of only 11 states to receive $150,000 grants to develop strategies and policies to improve productivity in higher education.
Colorado and the 10 other states (Arizona, California, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin) will receive one-year grants through the foundation's Making Opportunity Affordable (MOA) initiative. State leaders will develop and implement policy changes that promote cost-saving methods of delivering high-quality education to greater numbers of students.
"This grant exemplifies my determination to double the number of college degrees and certificates earned by Colorado students over 10 years," Gov. Ritter said. "It will help Colorado reach this goal by increasing college enrollment and degree completion by traditionally underserved populations and helping so-called 'ready' adults -- students that are just a few credits short of a degree -- complete a degree program."
The 11 states will be eligible to compete next year for a $2-million Opportunity Grant to implement their plans over four years. The $45.5 million initiative seeks to advance policy innovation and change in higher education finance, management and instructional delivery to get many more students – and especially from underserved populations – into and through postsecondary education.
"We're pleased and energized to receive this very competitive grant," Colorado Department of Higher Education Executive Director David Skaggs said. "With higher education so under-funded -- we're last in the nation in public funding -- we have to be as efficient as possible and still find ways to reach students who can do college work but just haven't believed they could make it financially."
The United States spends about twice as much as the average industrialized country per student on higher education, and it is graduating students at a higher cost than other nations. The United States is now only 10th in the world in the percentage of adults 25 to 34 who hold college degrees. Worse, it ranks 15th in the proportion of college students who start college and actually complete degrees. Meanwhile, the cost of attending college has risen more rapidly than household incomes, and the availability of financial aid has not kept up with tuition increases.
"We must find ways of increasing productivity on our nation's campuses to raise U.S. degree-attainment rates, which have remained stagnant in recent decades," said Jamie Merisotis, president of Lumina Foundation. "And we need to explore and invest in new models for delivering a college education, especially if these models can help the United States graduate more students who face financial and academic challenges."
More information on the MOA grant and the Lumina Foundation can be found here