Goal: Get, keep more kids in college
BYLINE: BILL GRAVES, The Oregonian
SUMMARY: RISING TUITION AND A LACK OF SUPPORT ARE SEEN
AS FACTORS IN THE SLIDE IN ATTAINING DEGREES
Oregon higher education officials were struck recently by a disturbing trend: The percentage of young Oregonians with college degrees has slipped below that of their parents.
"We're going in a direction that doesn't bode well for the future competitiveness of our work force and state," said George Pernsteiner, chancellor of the state's university system.
Forty percent of Oregonians 35 to 64 have a two-year associate's degree or higher, compared with 34 percent of those ages 25-34. In most industrialized countries, the proportion of young people who have earned a college degree surpasses that of their parents.
Reversing the declining college attainment of Oregon's young adults will be the focus of efforts to improve the seven-campus Oregon University System over the next five years, Pernsteiner said.
The system will be gearing up to attract and retain more Oregon students and produce more degree recipients, Pernsteiner said. That will mean, he said, establishing better connections and support for students at every level: before they enter college, as entering freshmen and as transfers from community colleges.
To reach those goals, he added, the university system must find the resources to sustain quality and to invest more in its programs, in faculty pay and in building maintenance.
Since 2004, Oregon universities have seen a drop in entering freshmen. Also, since 2001, four campuses have had a decreasing percentage of freshmen return for a second year.
Average annual tuition and fees for an Oregon student aiming to graduate in four years have increased 47 percent since 2001, to $5,520 for 2006-07. Tuition has climbed because state support for the universities has dropped. It's now lower than it was in 1999 and ranks 46th among the states.
These trends threaten the future of Oregon students, university officials say.
"The ticket of admission to the American middle class is increasingly determined by educational attainment, and that is worldwide," said David Frohnmayer, president of the University of Oregon.
As the state recovers from the last recession, Gov. Ted Kulongoski wants $827 million budgeted for higher education in the 2007-09 budget period, a 121/2 percent increase. He also wants to expand the state's student aid program to serve both lower- and middle-class students and to give the universities $595 million, most through bonding authority, to maintain and expand their buildings.
Oregon universities also are trying to be more entrepreneurial by competing more aggressively for research dollars and by turning their findings into business ventures. Oregon State University won $194 million last year in research grants and contracts. The University of Oregon earned $4.3 million in licensed income from applied research, a 1,200 percent increase over the year 2000.
Oregon universities collectively enroll 81,000 students and expect to expand enrollment by 11,000 over the next five years. Last year, they awarded 12,952 bachelor's degrees, 3,877 master's degrees and 907 doctoral and professional degrees.
Enrolling more students will produce more degrees, but university leaders are more interested in helping the students they already have stick with college until they graduate: About a third of students now leave Oregon universities after six years without a degree.
"Persistence through graduation has to be an important part of what we are about," said Edward Ray, president of Oregon State University, where 62 percent of students graduate within six years. "We need to have a graduation rate that is closer to 80 percent."
To reduce attrition, universities are reaching out to students as early as elementary school, particularly to those who are disadvantaged and more likely to need guidance. Students from low-income families, whose parents did not attend college, who are minority or who live in rural areas all face more obstacles to college success, yet comprise an increasing share of the public school enrollment, Pernsteiner said. The percentage of public school minority students has doubled over the past 15 years to 22 percent, largely because of the increase in Latino students.
The University of Oregon is helping more than 300 of the state's minority and low-income middle school students prepare for college through programs called Reach for Success and From Middle School to College. Oregon State University reaches more than 700 students from elementary through high school in a program called Science and Math Investigative Learning Experience or SMILE. The majority of the students are Native American and Latino, and nearly all of them live in poor, rural, educationally under-served communities.
Universities also are looking for ways to support students once they arrive on campus with more tutoring, guidance and financial aid. The University of Oregon now retains 84 percent of its freshmen for a second year, more than any other campus. It does so in part by putting freshmen in small groups and seminars geared to their interests. President Frohnmayer himself teaches a Theories of Leadership seminar to 28 freshmen.
OSU has launched programs to improve instruction, to help ease the transition from high school to college and to give freshmen more counseling and tutoring. Over the next two years, the campus will focus on "improving the quality of the student experience," which means providing more guidance, tutoring and better instruction, said President Ray. The university also wants to give students more experience in internships, service learning and study abroad, he said.
The university system is also working with Oregon's 17 community colleges to build wider, smoother paths for students who want to transfer into the four-year schools.
Oregon State University now has partnerships with all but one of the community colleges. The agreements allow students to enroll at once in both a community college and OSU.
Portland State University, the state's largest, is forming a consortium with area community colleges --including Mt. Hood, Portland and Clackamas --that will allow students to simultaneously enroll and take classes from them all, as needed, to earn a degree. The consortium will be huge, said Daniel Bernstine, PSU president. "It is an attempt to make things more seamless and accessible."
All of the universities will be working on refining their unique missions, Pernsteiner said. Eastern Oregon University in La Grande has focused on providing online distance education so rural students have more opportunities to earn degrees. Western Oregon University in Monmouth has made it a priority to serve students who are first in their families to attend college. The Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls is moving more heavily into health technology. And Southern Oregon University in Ashland specializes in liberal arts, sciences and small class sizes that give students more individual attention.
All share an interest, as does the state, in helping more Oregonians earn college degrees, Pernsteiner said. If the state were doing enough, he said, "We would not have a young adult population less educated than their elders."
Bill Graves: 503-221-8549; billgraves@news.oregonian.com