policy recommendations

As Tuition Rates Rise, State Funding for Public Colleges Decrease, According to GAO Report

Funding for public colleges decreased by 12 percent overall from FY03 to FY12, while tuition rates for all public colleges rose by 55 percent during the same time, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).  Driven in part by the impact of the recent recession on state budgets, the decline in state funding has had a significant impact on college affordability for students and their family. The GAO found that a larger portion of family budgets are going towards helping offset the cost of their children’s college education. In the report, GAO also identified several potential approaches that the federal government could use to expand incentives to states to improve affordability such as creating new grants, providing more consumer information on affordability, or changing federal student aid programs. In addition to the report, GOA also released a web-based interview to share their thoughts and recommendations of how the federal government can help states to address the issue of college affordability. Read the report…

Encourage Community College Innovation to Promote Middle-Skill Career Pathways, According to Report

A more innovative economy does not have to lead to greater inequality, as long as educational pathways exist for middle-skill workers, according to a new report from Jobs for the Future and Achieving the Dream. The groups’ Middle-Skill STEM State Policy Framework provides a set of strategic goals for states to link the community college experience with the needs of employers. States should better align community college programs with state economic development strategies, encourage engagement and apprenticeships with the private sector and implement incentives for schools to design more innovative STEM learning opportunities. Download the report…

UK’s Catapult Network Continues to Grow, Receive Support

A new report released last week by Hermann Hauser, one of Britain’s most renowned technology entrepreneurs, announces his support for the expansion of the UK’s Catapult Network, a series of national centers focused on innovating around specific industry areas. Hauser played a critical role in the launch of the Catapult Network and was tapped by cabinet officials to conduct a review of the program’s progress. In Review of the Catapult Network: Recommendations on the Future Shape, Scope and Ambition of the Programme, Hauser notes that in order to take advantage of its world-leading science base, the UK must drastically increase its funding for innovation programming and the size and scope of its Catapult Centers.

Manufacturing Committee Pushes for Increased Coordination, Investment

The federal government should invest in strategic technologies and multi-agency initiatives to iincrease U.S. advanced manufacturing capabilities, according to a new report from the President’s Council of Advisors in Science and Technology. The Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP) Steering Committee “2.0” is a cross-sector, national effort to secure US leadership in emerging technologies that create high-quality manufacturing jobs and enhance the nation’s competitiveness. The committee released its second and final AMP report, Accelerating U.S. Advanced Manufacturing, this week as part of the White House’s rollout of new actions and initiatives intended to strengthen U.S. manufacturing.  The committee’s recommendations focus on enabling innovation, securing the talent pipeline, and improving the nation’s business climate.   

President Obama, Tech Industry Continue Press for Visa Reform

Earlier this summer, President Obama announced that his administration would be taking executive action to reform immigration policy, working to improve the entirety of the immigration system by tweaking individual components. This week, at a startup incubator in Los Angeles, the President revealed at least one of those components: the H1B system. As part of his remarks at a town hall meeting on innovation, the president declared his intentions to make the H1B system more efficient so that it encourages more people to stay in the United States. Capped at 65,000 visas for private-sector workers each year, the H1B (H-1B) visa program is the main visa used to bring high-skilled, foreign-born, talent into the United States. With the current cap unable to meet employer demand for H1B visas, and recent studies suggesting the United States may be losing competitive advantages as a result, more attention is being paid to the important role these foreign-born, high-skilled workers play in the economy.

MN, IA, Other States Look to Strong Agbiosciences Industry to Support Economic Prosperity

Minnesota’s economic future may well be rooted in its historic leadership in agricultural production, according to a new report prepared by Battelle, Agbioscience as a Development Driver: Minnesota Agbioscience Strategy. The report includes an assessment of Minnesota’s key capacities and opportunities in agricultural research and a suggested strategy for the state with a specific focus on growing the state’s agricultural bioscience (agbioscience) research infastructure. After interviewing more than 100 researchers and research administrators, the authors identified four agbioscience research platform areas to target:

OSTP Invites Public Comments for Update to Strategy for American Innovation

The Office of Science and Technology Policy announced a public comment period that will assist in the development of an upcoming update of the Strategy for American Innovation. Via a notice of Request for Information (RFI), individuals and organizations have the opportunity to provide input on one or more of nine topic areas:

White House Enlists Makers, Cities to Spur National Manufacturing Economy

This week, the White House hosted its first Maker Faire where President Obama announced a number of new public-private collaborative efforts to spur U.S. manufacturing entrepreneurship. In order to capitalize on the recent spike in manufacturing entrepreneurship, the administration is enlisting more than 90 mayors and local leaders to make new spaces available for manufacturing and prototyping. The White House also plans to make it easier for entrepreneurs to access federally owned equipment for research and production, expand federal agency support for smaller manufacturers and invest $150 million in advanced materials research.

NIH Recommends $4.5B Over 10 Years for BRAIN Initiative

National Institute of Health (NIH) Director Francis S. Collins has accepted recommendations from an NIH working group that call for increased investment in the federal government’s effort to map and understand the human brain. Under the recommended plan, the initiative would receive $400 million each year between 2016-20, which would grow to $500 million a year for 2021-25. The BRAIN Initiative is a multi-agency effort, supported by NIH, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense, National Science Foundation and Food and Drug Administration. NIH has announced that BRAIN Initiative funding for FY14 will total $40 million. Read the report…

U.S. Companies Report Water Issues Impact Site Selection, Strategic Planning

In a recent Pacific Institute and Vox Global survey, about 80 percent of U.S. companies reported that water availability has become an issue for their business, particularly among firms in the South and Southwestern regions of the country. About 63 percent said water issues would affect their future location decisions, and more than half reported that they expected water scarcity to impact their growth and profitability over the next five years. This year’s Global Risks report from the World Economic Forum, ranked water concerns as the third greatest risk to the global economy, separate from and ranked above climate change and extreme weather events.  In recognition of these developments, Michigan’s University Research Corridor institutions have begun highlighting their work in the water economy.

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