National commission recommends ways to increase the number of adults with college degrees and certificates

LAWRENCE — A new report released this week analyzes funding challenges in higher education and offers nine recommendations to address these obstacles and increase the number of people who earn degrees and certificates.

Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little is a member of the nonpartisan National Commission on Financing 21st Century Higher Education, which issued the report.

In order to reach the commission’s goal of a working-age population with a degree attainment rate of 60 percent by 2025, an additional 16.4 million people must graduate with two- or four-year degrees or industry certificates over and above the baseline between 2017 and 2025.

“This report is an important reminder that the private sector, state and federal governments, and secondary education institutions can each be stronger when they all work together to achieve a common goal,” Gray-Little said. “When more adults graduate from college, society at large benefits from the improved economic and other benefits that result.”

The University of Kansas is pursuing its own initiatives to improve retention and graduation rates through Bold Aspirations, its strategic plan, as well as Foresight 2020, a strategic agenda developed by the Kansas Board of Regents.

The commission’s report outlines four key challenges that must be overcome in order to meet the 2025 goal: The nation must help more students succeed in college, increase graduation rates, make college more affordable, and invest the necessary dollars to raise college access and attainment levels.

• First, the changing demographics of the college-going population must be recognized, and the growing cohorts of Hispanic and African-American students who often face barriers to accessing secondary education and attaining a degree must be supported and succeed in college.

• Second, the price and affordability of college must be less prohibitive, especially for those from median- or lower-income families.

• Third, sufficient state and federal financial support must be given to both institutions and students.

• Fourth, persistently low college completion rates must be addressed with strategic interventions to support individual students.

The commission offered nine recommendations to reach a working-age population that has a degree attainment rate of 60 percent by 2025:

1. Increase federal and state institutional support.
2. Enhance state revenue to support higher education.
3. Stimulate the development and implementation of low-cost education delivery models.
4. Encourage productivity in the postsecondary system.
5. Create incentives for students to graduate on time.
6. Help students and their families make better decisions.
7. Increase and reform financial aid to target low-income students.
8. Develop additional private funding.
9. Take advantage of private-sector programs.

The University of Virginia Miller Center created the nonpartisan commission to recommend policy and funding changes to help the nation reach the 60 percent goal. The commission estimated that public colleges and universities will need approximately $30 billion more over current projections yearly between now and 2025 to achieve those levels.

The complete report is available online, along with an executive summary of its findings.