Day:
Friday, October 30, 2020
Time:
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
First Learning Outcome: strategic thinking - for SEM leaders
Second Learning Outcome: communication - for SEM leaders
Third Learning Outcome: complexity of enrollment challenges face IHEs
Core Competencies: Collaborative Decision-Making and Consensus-Building, Leadership and Management
Proficiencies: Enrollment Management: SEM Leadership
Intended Audience: Significant experience in the profession, Senior management (President, Provost, Vice President, Vice Provost)
Can colleges both compete for students and cooperate to realize greater social mobility?
Category
Session
Description
According to the US Department of Education, 10% of students from the lowest socioeconomic bracket earn a bachelor’s degree by age 25. There will also be a sharp decline in the number of high school graduates beginning in 2025, yet the number of low-income high school age students is expected to increase. With only 10% of the lowest income students earning a bachelor’s degree, growth in that group means that there will be a higher number of individuals without a college degree. Our economy, which is dependent on optimal employment for growth, cannot afford to ignore more than 85% of the individuals in the lowest income band.
In the face of this, there has been a shift at the federal, state, and institutional levels away from policies that help make college more affordable. Pell once covered nearly 80% of the cost of attending a four-year public college; now it covers barely 30%. Students from the bottom-income-quintile finance 157% of family income to pay for college while those from wealthy families just 14%. And in spite of this, colleges continue to favor merit aid— according to NCES, the average merit awards given to students are about $1,500 larger than average awards based on need.
The Session:
With support from the Joyce Foundation, the team from USC’s Center for Enrollment Research, Policy and Practice has assembled a panel of enrollment managers from three Midwest consortia- the Big 10, the Mid-America Conference and the Great Lakes Association of Colleges to join thought leaders from AASCU, Ithaka, and ??? in a working group that will craft an experience-based approach to collaboration and policy formation. Our goal is to formulate workable public and institutional policy solutions backed by a research agenda. This group began meeting virtually in August and will finish its work in March. We will then convene a larger group of enrollment leaders from all consortium member institutions to discuss and refine the recommendations put forth by the working group.
This session will review the progress and direction of the working group as it crafts policy initiatives and proposals that will expand early outreach, recruitment, admission and financial aid for low- and middle-income families, paying attention also to retention, academic progress and graduation of the target student population. This will likely involve increases in state and federal aid in partnership with institutions that agree to shift more institutional aid funds toward meeting the needs of low-and middle-income students. We will review the collaboration strategies institutions can initiate that are permissible within the law, and we will discuss a plan to involve policy makers in the public realm to review proposals from the consortia and create new legislation.
Submission ID:
13884
Presenter(s):
Don Hossler USC
Jerry Lucido Center Enrollment Research, Policy, and Practice, USC
Robert Massa Center for Enrollment, Research, Policy, and Practice