Road to college track found rough in state
Posted on Thursday, September 7, 2006
Arkansas colleges and universities cost too much and the state’s high schools are doing a poor job of preparing students for college, according to a national report released Wednesday.
“Measuring Up 2006: The National Report Card on Higher Education” paints a bleak picture of higher education in Arkansas and nationwide, citing concerns that the country’s young people are unprepared to compete in an increasingly global economy.
“The overall picture for American students and families is not very positive,” Patrick Callan, president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, said in a teleconference Wednesday. The San Jose, Calif.-based center says it promotes policies to help Americans achieve quality higher education. It is a nonprofit, nonaffiliated agency.
The report, produced by the center every other year since 2000, is intended to provide a way for educators, administrators and policymakers to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of the higher education system, Callan said. The report includes an evaluation of higher education nationwide, as well as state-by-state breakdowns and international comparisons.
States are graded on six criteria — preparation, participation, affordability, completion, benefits and learning.
This year’s report was particularly critical of the rising costs of higher education. Arkansas is one of 43 states to receive a failing grade in providing affordable college education opportunities to low- and middle-income students. Four states received D’s and one state a D-minus. California and Utah both scored a C-minus, the highest grade in the category.
“There is a continuing decline of college affordability in our country,” Callan said. “We’re actually going backwards.”
Since 1982, the combined cost of college tuition and fees has increased 375 percent nationwide, while medical-care costs have risen 223 percent and the consumer price index has risen 95 percent, the report said.
It’s a three-pronged problem requiring action at the federal, state and institutional level, Callan said.
In Arkansas, the report cited a low investment in need-based financial aid and a lack of lowpriced college options.
Low-income students in the state bear a large burden to attend college, according to the report. A year at a public four-year college, with costs that include tuition and room and board, requires nearly 36 percent of their annual income after financial aid, the report said.
Arkansas higher education officials said multiple factors contribute to areas of rising costs, which include technology, student-support services and salary increases for faculty and staff.
“The cost increases that we have seen for campuses in Arkansas are the same as have been seen at colleges across the country,” said Les Wyatt, president of Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. “It has been a maddening effort we have seen to try and get these costs under control.”
Linda Beene, director of the state Department of Higher Education, said there have been gains in state funding in recent years but there is still a long way to go. Many of the costs associated with higher education are beyond the control of institutions, such as the cost of textbooks, health care and energy, Beene said.
The department is recommending an additional $ 109 million for 2007 and $ 128 million for 2008 from the state Legislature to help cover operating costs at colleges and universities statewide.
“It should be noted that in terms of constant dollars, funding for higher education is lower now than it was in 1979 in Arkansas,” she said.
The state has increased its commitment to financially needy students in recent years, offering Academic Challenge scholarships and the $ 3. 7 million work force improvement grant program.
“I think Arkansas would have fared better if more-recent data were used because we have made such drastic improvement in the last three years,” Beene said.
Measures of preparation, participation, completion and benefits were graded against the top five states in those categories.
Arkansas received a D-plus in how well high schools in the state prepare students for college-level work.
“Arkansas’ underperformance in educating its young population could limit the state’s access to a competitive workforce and weaken its economy over time,” a news release issued by the center said.
Fifty percent of high school students in the state are enrolled in upper-level math, compared with 64 percent in the five top states in the preparation category. Only 28 percent of high school students are enrolled in upper-level science courses, compared with 40 percent in top states.
The report also noted that a small proportion of 11 th- and 12 th-graders scores well on Advanced Placement tests and college entrance exams. Only 133 out of every 1, 000 high school graduates scored in the top 20 th percentile nationally on the SAT and ACT college entrance exams.
At the same time, the report praised the state for having 68 percent of secondary school students taught by qualified teachers with a major in their subject.
Eighty-six percent of 18 to 24-year-olds in Arkansas have a high school diploma or its equivalent, compared with 94 percent in top states. The report noted a disparity between low-income and high-income families regarding young adults earning a high school diploma.
The state received a C in three areas, including the number of adults studying at the college level, the number of students completing a college degree or certificate program, and how much the state benefits from its college-educated population.
Over the past decade the chance of a young adult enrolling in college by age 19 has increased 18 percent, one of the steepest increases seen nationwide, the report states.
Forty-two percent of students in Arkansas enroll in college by age 19, compared with 53 percent in the top five states in the participation category.
The report found fault with the participation of workingage adults. Only 2. 8 percent of working adults age 25 to 49 are enrolled in part-time collegelevel courses or training.
Tim Jones, director of public relations and marketing at Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock, said the 22 two-year colleges in the state provide a means for working adults and other nontraditional students to pursue a college education — an opportunity they may not have otherwise.
Demand is growing, he said. At Pulaski Technical College, the largest two-year college in the state, enrollment jumped from 7, 685 in fall 2005 to 8, 473 this semester. “We’re here to meet a real crying need,” he said. Beene said the report will be distributed to the public, policymakers, educators and higher education officials across the state as a means of identifying issues faced concerns in higher education. Jones said it will serve as a tool in negotiations at the federal and state level. “It’s extremely timely,” Jones said. “If we want things to get better in the state, we’re going to have to invest in higher education to a greater degree.” The full report is expected to be available online today at http: // www. highereducation. org.
To contact this reporter: cpark@arkansasonline. com
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