UVa conference aims to produce influential education report

A two-day higher education conference at the University of Virginia will result in a “bold” and “controversial” report that organizers hope will echo “A Nation at Risk,” the landmark 1983 report that shed light on the nation’s failing schools and led to education reform across the country.

“We need to write a report over the next couple months that is really ‘A Nation at Risk 2.0’ but that is about higher education,” said Gerald L. Baliles, director of UVa’s Miller Center of Public Affairs, which hosted the conference that wrapped up Monday afternoon.

The nation’s colleges and universities are in crisis, the conference’s participants said.

States are dealing with declining tax revenue and are expected to continue slashing higher education funding. Far too few students are pursuing degrees in the much-needed fields of science, technology, engineering and math. And rising tuition rates have made it more difficult for many families to afford the cost of attendance, attendees argued.

The conference’s participants included governors, college presidents, chancellors of several states’ university systems and numerous other national and state higher education policy makers, advocates and analysts.

One of the themes of the conference was that universities need to find a way to increase greatly the number of degrees awarded and to boost the number of degrees in technical courses.

Universities, many said, must find ways to operate more efficiently while maintaining and improving quality.

“We have to find lower cost ways of delivering higher education,” said Brit Kirwin, chancellor of the University System of Maryland. “The idea that we’ll be able to continue the same paradigm of the last century just isn’t going to happen.”

With many states likely to reduce higher education funding in the next two or three years, participants said, higher education advocates need to make the case that a long-term investment in colleges and universities will pay dividends down the road in the form of jobs and tax revenue.

Some states, including Virginia, are looking to invest in higher education. Gov. Bob McDonnell, for example, announced Friday that he would ask the General Assembly for $50 million for higher education reform and to increase the number of degrees awarded to students.

Baliles, who served as Virginia’s governor between 1986 and 1990, said McDonnell has advanced “some very promising proposals” to invest in higher education.

Across the county, the conference’s participants said, university leaders need to make clear to state policymakers that higher education is a vital “public good” that plays a fundamental role in the economic recovery. Moreover, they added, schools need to be able to show state officials that they are operating as efficiently as possible and that state tax dollars are paying off.

Many participants called for universities to forge a tighter partnership with the business community to ensure that students are graduating with degrees in high-demand fields that can lead to good-paying jobs and increase the United States’ competitiveness with emerging economies around the world.

Others added that colleges need to do a better job of coordinating with community colleges, as more students will likely be attending two-year schools before transferring to a four-year institution.

“All this will take a considerable amount of courage and a considerable amount of imagination,” said Gordon Davies, former director of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

Virginia Tech President Charles Steger said many universities around the country will not be able to get on a sustainable financial footing merely by finding efficiencies. Rather, he said, these schools will have to diversify their revenue streams, relying more on private support, much as UVa has done.

As schools become more private, he added, they must make it clear that they are geared toward the public good.

“We have to ensure we maintain the public’s trust as we move through this transition,” he said.