Despite signs that rural students complete high school at higher rates, fewer enrolled finish their degrees than their urban and suburban counterparts. Some of the biggest reasons for this are the lack of colleges in rural areas (which have become dubbed “education deserts”), the lack of understanding of the application process and the few technological resources available to rural students to learn new trades.

However, advancements made by the Biden administration and other higher education leaders point to the country’s revitalization in rural student recruitment. Students equipped with today’s digital skillsets can perpetuate innovation in the communities they left behind for college.

“Kids could take that money and go back to their communities in rural areas and spend that there. The spending that happens in rural communities affects everyone so I think there’s a lot of power there,” said Chris Sanders, director of the Rural Technology Fund, according to The Hill. “I think kids from rural areas in tech jobs stand to make a lot of people’s lives better.”

More from UB: President moves: Some are homegrown, others served public departments

Federal programs closing the “digital divide”

The USDA announced last week that it is awarding more than $700 million in broadband funding across 19 states to bolster rural connectivity and development across the country.

“High-speed internet is a key to prosperity for people who live and work in rural communities,” Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said in a statement. “We can ensure that rural communities have access to the internet connectivity needed to continue to expand the economy from the bottom up and middle out and to make sure rural America remains a place of opportunity to live, work, and raise a family.”

Additionally, Under Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Federal Communications Commission has slashed household internet bills, discounted computer purchases, and partnered with internet service providers to service high-speed internet plans under the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). To boost Americans’ enrollment in ACP, the Department of Education partnered with over 300 organizations last week to raise Americans’ awareness of the administration’s commitment to democratizing high-speed internet connection.

“Access to high-speed internet is no longer a luxury—it is a necessity to fully participate in today’s society. Still, many students and families go without high-speed internet because of the cost, while others are forced to cut back on other essentials to pay their monthly internet bill,” read the press release.

The Small Town and Rural College Network

Sixteen of some of the country’s most prestigious colleges and universities have joined a program dedicated to realizing the potential of small-town and rural students’ education opportunities. Fueled by a $20 million philanthropic investment, the Small Town and Rural Students (STARS) College Network oversees and facilitates institutions’ different efforts to offer personalized programming and mentoring for these disadvantaged students. For example, Columbia University is establishing a fly-in program for STARS-eligible students to access the campus quickly. Financial aid will also be provided.

Other notable schools in this program are CalTech, MIT, Northwestern, University of Chicago, Yale and Vanderbilt.

The Rural Technology Fund

The Rural Technology Fund’s (RTF) official mission is to “help rural students recognize opportunities in technology careers, facilitate pathways to work in the computer industry, and provide equitable access to technology for students with disabilities.”

The organization recognizes that rural students are at a disproportionate disadvantage when entering careers in technology due to the lack of resources. To combat this, RTF has given out over $50,000 worth of scholarships and reached more than 170,000 students in more than 800 schools with educational opportunities in technology. Its goal is 250,000 students.

“Rural people are industrious and resilient and resourceful. And so I’m incredibly optimistic because I think that rural people have had to get things done in all kinds of ways and I think that will continue,” Azano said.

The post How college leaders aim to increase rural students’ share of 4-year degrees appeared first on University Business.

While the Supreme Court is readying to strike down affirmative action nationally, universities that have leveraged race-based admissions are concerned about how Black and Hispanic enrollment might fare. State and student demographic data collected by Data Commons and Data USA from 2012 to 2020 shows that while Black and Hispanic populations have substantially grown throughout California, Washington, Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, Arizona, New Hampshire and Oklahoma, the student body of those states’ flagship universities has not reflected that increase whatsoever.

For example, the Hispanic population has increased by 26% in states where affirmative action has already been banned. However, the average increase in the Hispanic student body across their flagship universities is only 4%.

Similarly, while these states’ overall Black population has increased by 14%, Black student enrollment has only increased by less than a percentage point on average at flagship universities.

Minority students weighing whether to enroll at a major university may be worried about finding others who share their cultural experience. Ultimately, those schools can lose out.

“Why would I go to U of M?” said Odia Kaba, a class of 2022 student who chose to remain at Eastern Michigan University to finish her studies, according to AP News. “I’m just going to be stuck with people that don’t look like me, can’t relate to me, and with no way to escape it.”

This article covers the first eight states to have banned affirmative action since their states’ Supreme Court denied its practice in or before 2012. On the other hand, Idaho struck down race-based admissions in 2020, so its long-term trends have not matured enough to analyze.

Percent demographic changes from 2012 to 2020: State vs. State’s flagship university

California

State population

• Black: unchanged (2.25 million in 2020)
• Hispanic: 10% increase (15.4 million)

University of California Berkeley

• Black: unchanged
  • 3% of the student body in 2020
• Hispanic: 5% increase
  • 17% of the student body in 2020

Washington

State population

• Black: 22% increase (290k in 2020)
• Hispanic: 29% increase (972k)

University of Washington – Seattle

• Black: unchanged
  • 3% of the student body in 2020
• Hispanic: 3% increase
  • 9% of the student body in 2020

Florida

State population

• Black: 12% increase (3.38 million in 2020)
• Hispanic: 29% increase (5.47 million)

University of Florida

• Black: 1% decrease
  • 6% of the student body in 2020
• Hispanic: 6% increase
  • 21% of the student body in 2020

Michigan

State population

• Black: 2% decrease (1.36 million in 2020)
• Hispanic: 19% increase (521k)

University of Michigan – Ann Arbor

• Black: 1% increase
  • 5% of the student body in 2020
• Hispanic: 3% increase
  • 7% of the student body in 2020

Nebraska

State population

• Black: 12% increase (91.9k in 2020)
• Hispanic: 29% increase (215k)

University of Nebraska – Lincoln

• Black: 1% increase
  • 3% of the student body in 2020
• Hispanic: 3% increase
  • 7% of the student body in 2020

Arizona

State population

• Black: 24% increase (325k in 2020)
• Hispanic: 19% increase (2.26 million)

University of Arizona

• Black: 1% increase
  • 4% of the student body in 2020
• Hispanic: 6% increase
  • 27% of the student body in 2020

New Hampshire

State population

• Black: 37% increase (21k in 2020)
• Hispanic: 41% increase (52.8k million)

University of New Hampshire

• Black: unchanged
  • 1% of the student body in 2020
• Hispanic: 1% increase
  • 4% of the student body in 2020

Oklahoma

State population

• Black: 6% increase (288k million in 2020)
• Hispanic: 30% increase (431k)

University of Oklahoma

• Black: 1% decrease
  • 5% of the student body in 2020
• Hispanic: 4% increase
  • 11% of the student body in 2020

The post Minority enrollment at these flagship universities underwhelms compared to state population gains appeared first on University Business.

However, Republican lawmakers in more than a dozen states believe that the office responsible for curating a rich, multi-dimensional campus is “fomenting radical and toxic divisions”: the office of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Conservative think tanks Manhattan Institute and Goldwater Institute have helped shape GOP lawmakers’ rationale against DEI. Christopher Rufo, a senior fellow at Manhattan Institute, helped shape Florida Gov. Ron Desantis’ catalyzing piece of legislation against Critical Race Theory. He has since advised DeSantis through his dismantling of DEI across Florida’s state institutions.

As the ire grows against DEI and Critical Race Theory, which lawmakers usually associate with DEI for its capacity to “indoctrinate” students, opposing leaders have found different strategies to end its programming in higher education.

Most recently, Wisconsin lawmakers and the University of Arkansas are one legislative body and school leader to target DEI programs.

More from UB: Nearly 2,000 colleges aren’t requiring SAT or ACT scores for fall 2023

School strategies to end DEI

DEI office closure

On Wednesday, Chancellor Charles Robinson announced in an email that the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, would dissolve the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Staff members will be reassigned to different departments related to student success, student affairs, human resources and others with no layoffs planned.

Faculty Senate Chair Stephen Caldwell believes the campus is in a “post-DEI environment” that doesn’t require the values of DEI to be structured in a single office. Similarly, Robinson maintains the school has affirmed that equal opportunity, access and belonging are critical to our land-grant mission and university values,” according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

The move most likely stems from Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ executive order that “prohibits indoctrination and critical race theory in schools.”

Similarly, the private institution New College of Florida abolished its Office of Outreach and Inclusive Excellence and fired its top officer.

State strategies

Prohibit public institutions from using state, federal dollars on DEI initiatives

This strategy is the most popular DEI lawmakers use against DEI and may be the most effective. This strategy prohibits public colleges and universities from funding its programming whatsoever, suffocating it in the process. At least six states have proposed this legislation, with varying results.

• Arizona
  • Lost in the House after passing in the Senate.
•  Florida
  • Signed into law by Ron DeSantis
• Iowa
  • House bill referred to education committee as of May 4
• Kansas
  • Referred to appropriations committee as of March 23
• Oklahoma
  • Senate bill read on May 18
• Utah
  • Failed to pass

Order the closure of DEI offices

Texas became the second state behind Florida to dismantle DEI at the state level successfully. However, Gov. Greg Abbott’s signed bill forthrightly refuses public institutions from establishing or maintaining a DEI office instead of targeting their financial appropriations.

Nebraska is the only other state to try this method. However, lawmakers soon molded it into a study researching the benefits of DEI programs in higher education.

Slash schools’ DEI budget

Wisconsin’s top Republicans are looking to cut the University of Wisconsin system’s DEI budget by more than $32 million, according to CBS 58. They devised this specific cut after reviewing a public records request listing all DEI staff positions. With UW’s system spending $16 million a year on DEI, the state’s 2023-25 biennium budget will effectively kill all funding and appropriate it elsewhere.

​​”The university has gone from being an institute of higher education to an institute of indoctrination,” Senator Robin Vos said, according to The Center Square. “If they want to increase their funding, they have to show they can prioritize things to grow the economy, not grow the racial divide.”

The proposed state budget cut would affect 13 universities across the UW system.

The post 4 ways states and schools choose to dismantle DEI offices appeared first on University Business.

Also notable: An interesting trend among the latest new hires is that some have previous experience serving in either a federal or state position.

Hired

Dr. Michael P. Shannon – University of North Georgia

The Georgia Board of Regents has tapped retired U.S. Army officer, Georgia Tech’s current interim chief business officer and first-generation student Michael P. Shannon for the University of North Georgia’s top job.

A military thoroughbred, Shannon served in the army for over 20 years and subsequently advised the U.S. Department of Defense on nuclear technology. He then gained his research and teaching experience at West Point, serving in its physics and nuclear engineering department. Along with his president assignment, Shannon also serves on multiple boards, including the Georgia Tech Foundation, the Georgia Tech Athletic Association, Georgia Applied Technology Ventures Inc. and the Midtown Alliance, according to the University System of Georgia’s website.

Dr. Salvador Hector Ochoa – Texas A&M University – San Antonio

As the sole presidential finalist at Texas A&M University’s San Antonio campus, Salvador Hector Ochoa was selected as the third leader of the 24-year-old campus. “The University’s mission to improve educational outcomes and leverage the talents of historically underserved student populations mirrors my own personal and professional mission, and I am eager to join the dedicated faculty and staff of A&M-San Antonio in that important work,” Ochoa said in a formal statement.

Ochoa currently serves as the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at San Diego State University. However, SDSU President Adela de la Torre described Ochoa’s appointment as a true “homecoming” since he’s a South Texas native.

Dr. Koffi C. Akakpo – Kentucky State University

After being ordered to stop its president search for one year, Kentucky State University has finally found a new president in Koffi C. Akakpo, a veteran leader with experience across several institutions. Most recently, Akakpo led Bluegrass Community and Technical College as president and CEO. Before that, he served in three key positions at North Central State College: vice president for business, administrative, and student services, COO, and chief student services officer.

Paralleling Shannon’s federal employment experience, Akakpo’s state leadership experience includes being the department secretary and director of the Department of Natural Resources for the state of Ohio, according to Diverse.

Rodney Hanley – Northeastern State University (Oklahoma)

The Regional University System of Oklahoma Regents has selected Rodney Hanley to lead Northeastern State University starting August 1. Northeastern is a predominantly rural school, so it’s fitting Hanley previously served as president of Lake Superior State University, another rural university.

RUSO regent and president search committee chair Chris Van Denhende highlighted his commitment to work with local and regional community leaders as Hanley’s distinguishing attribute. For example, the Muskogee Phoenix noted Hanley’s extensive experience in tribal relations as one of his skill sets.

Hanley has over 35 years of leadership experience, including provost and vice president of academic affairs at Fisk University.

Retired

Kevin Satterlee – Idaho State University

An Idahoan native, Kevin Satterlee is calling his latest tenure as president of Idaho State University his last after serving 25 years in higher education—all in his home state. He served at Idaho State for five years. Before that, he worked for 17 years at Boise State University in various positions, including chief operating officer, vice president and special counsel to the president.

“It has been a privilege and an honor to serve this state and to serve our students. And I am beyond grateful to have been able to serve Idaho State University with our mission, a mission that resonates so deeply with me, and with a team that shows more dedication and grit than I could have ever imagined,” Satterlee said in a news release.

Stepping down

Carmen J. Walters – Tougaloo College (Mississippi)

June will be Carmen J. Walters’ last month at private HBCU Tougaloo College following a faculty “mass exodus,” a 40-year enrollment low of fewer than 700 students in 2021 and pressure from both students and alumni.

“There is discontentment among our ranks directly related to low student enrollment, a decrease in campus morale, horrid student living conditions, and questionable financial practices that have negatively impacted the college,” read one petition devised by a Tougaloo alumni group calling for Walters’ removal. The petition gained over 1,500 signatures.

The post President moves: Some are homegrown, others served public departments appeared first on University Business.

“What Works for Improving Mental Health in Higher Education” dispels lackluster mental health service strategies and advises college leaders on which evidence-backed intervention strategies will improve counselors’ efficacy.

While Healthy Minds Study found that the percentage of students receiving mental treatments has doubled in the last decade, mental health remains an increasingly prominent issue among college students. ACE finds that this is partially due to the current literature evaluating mental practices and the campus dialogues surrounding student mental health operate in silos from one another. As a result, progress is disjointed.

ACE utilized a comprehensive review of campus interventions strategies from various academic fields and journals to make its recommendations. As campus communities consider more proactive measures to student mental health, the council first recommends utilizing data-supported models to drive action and measure progress.

More from UB: Remuneration under inflation: Adjusted faculty salaries and benefits continue to plummet

Strategies with proven effectiveness

Skill-training interventions (extensive evidence)

Supervised student practice encourages the development of social, emotional and coping skills through behavioral rehearsal and supportive feedback. Such programs, such as mindfulness, boast consistently positive evidence improving social-emotional skills, enhancing self-perception, reducing emotional stress and mental health symptoms and improving sleep.

Screenings

This method can identify at-risk individuals struggling with symptoms of anxiety, depression and suicide risk. However, screenings are only helpful if campuses are resourced with the services they believe would most greatly assist the identified students’ needs.

Means restriction

Add fixtures to the campus environment to prevent self-harm, such as nets on bridges and rooftops.

Revise or discontinue

Psychoeducational interventions (minimally effective)

These target students’ knowledge of stress and mental health issues to identify symptoms, adopting a “knowledge is power” approach. ACE recommends this strategy is helpful as part of a multi-component intervention rather than a primary or independent approach to improving student outcomes.

Gatekeeper training (questionable effectiveness)

This method seeks to skill students to identify community members in distress and connect them with the correct avenues for intervention. While gatekeeper training has improved students’ confidence in initiating intervention for those in need, no literature suggests that it improves their behaviors.

Showing promise but needs review

While few intervention techniques exist that have been extensively reviewed and supported by academic journals, there are many more that have shown promising—though not convincing—results.

One promising example includes peer support programs, in which two meta-analyses deduced that it helped significantly decrease depressive symptoms at the same rate as professional-led interventions. Peer support programs can also entice students who don’t feel accepted, understood or motivated in traditional care routines. This method also lends to a cascading effect to another promising yet not fully founded intervention technique: cultivating a sense of belonging.

Other emerging strategies to tackle mental health include:

• Reduce stressors associated with students’ learning, testing, and the classroom environment
• Mentoring and coaching
• Post-crisis intervention
• Prevent discrimination and micro-aggressions
• Increased financial aid packages

How can your institution begin developing evidence-backed strategies?

ACE recommends that the strongest way to develop a no-nonsense package to alleviating student mental health concerns is collaborating with policymakers, foundations, philanthropists and even the private sector; it takes a village. With that in mind, here is their blueprint.

1.  Develop and maintain a centralized database of evidence.
2. Provide active support for decision-makers such as campus leaders and administrators.
3. Enhance incentives for using evidence to inform practices.
4. Invest in innovative research to address the evidence gaps.
5. Develop and strengthen the networks of practitioners and researchers.

Overall, ACE posits that developing students’ mental health with scientifically backed strategies not only strengthens the community, but it also reverberates back to the institution and community. Colleges and universities earn more tuition revenue due to increased retention, and more graduating students increases the skilled workforce, bolstering the U.S. economy.

The post Which mental health strategies should be embraced—or avoided? Check the data appeared first on University Business.

Salary, along with contributions to retirement and medical benefits, has sharply declined for full-time faculty across higher ed since the fall of 2019 thanks to another massive increase in the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U), according to an annual report by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).

“The Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession,” conducted for the past 50 years, found that nominal average salaries for full-time faculty increased by 4.1% from fall 2021 to fall 2022, the best one-year increase since 1990-91. However, once adjusted for inflation, full-time faculty salary decreased by 2.4%. Nearly 90% of all institutions experienced an inflation-adjusted decrease in faculty salary.

Nearly 900 U.S. colleges and universities participated in this report, utilizing employment data from around 370,000 full-time faculty.

More from UB: Why these 2 states are changing their higher ed funding model

Inflation has steadily outpaced salary growth for the past three years. Consequently, real average salaries have decreased from fall 2019 to fall 2022 by a cumulative 7.5%. In the same period, CPI-U has increased by nearly 16%. This three-year bruising is driven by a historic inflation hike from December 2021-22 not seen since 1981. For more perspective, average real salaries were 4.2% less in fall 2022 than in fall 2008, the middle of the Great Recession.

This three-year salary decline follows seven years of growth, from fall 2012 to fall 2019.

Senior administrators’ salaries have not been able to outpace inflation either. Presidents, chief academic officers and chief financial officers have also seen their median yearly earnings decrease. Chief academic officers had it the worst, experiencing a 9.2% decrease in median earnings since the fall of 2019. Presidents were second, with a 5.4% decrease.

Similarly to recent salary declines, median contributions to full-time faculty’s fringe benefits have also taken a hit within the same period. Specifically, median contributions to faculty retirement plans decreased by 6.2% from fall 2019 to fall 2022 once adjusted for inflation. Even worse, faculty of private independent institutions experienced a whopping 15% decline in retirement plan benefits. Additionally, medical contributions decreased by 7.5% across the board.

AAUP attributes faculties’ and senior administrators’ sharp decline in financial benefits to the pandemic-related ramifications. However, it also noted several other trends that have since developed that are deteriorating higher education’s quality, such as campus ideological divides, “political and corporate intrusions,” and attacks on knowledge and expertise.

However, AAUP believes the fabric of higher education cannot endure without proper wages.

“These events are shaping collective consciousness in U.S. academe, as evidenced by 15 academic worker strikes in the U.S. in 2022—the greatest number in at least 20 years, according to The Guardian,” the report’s authors wrote. “Such upheavals—along with the continued declines in real wages of faculty members, growth in reliance on faculty members on contingent appointments, gender pay inequality, and appallingly low pay for adjunct faculty members—diminish the ability of colleges and universities to attract and retain talented faculty members, threatening the standards of the profession and the success of institutions in fulfilling their obligations to students and to society.”

The post Remuneration under inflation: Adjusted faculty salaries and benefits continue to plummet appeared first on University Business.

Following the George Floyd protests in 2020 and NIC’s ensuing support of the Black Lives Matter movement, a county Republican committee urgently endorsed the nomination of two Board of Trustees members that better champion conservative values. The two committee-backed nominees won, joining Todd Banducci to form an informal conservative majority among the five-member panel.

Since then, the college has ousted two presidents, introduced two interim leaders, and nullified a judge’s order to reinstate a president improperly placed on leave. Now, however, North Idaho College fights for its accreditation.

How did North Idaho College get here?

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), the accreditation agency responsible for NIC, issued a “show cause” letter in February for a slew of reasons, including declining enrollment, a “continued exodus” of faculty and a string of 13 no-confidence votes passed by students, faculty and staff in the last two years. However, the predominant factor leading to the accreditation’s skepticism was its ongoing leadership problem.

In 2021, North Idaho’s board fired then-president Rick MacLennan without cause and eventually instated the school’s wrestling coach as interim president, drawing community-wide backlash and a lawsuit from MacLennan against the school, according to the NWCCU letter.

“Staff and faculty have made it clear. They are the boots on the ground here on this campus,” Wood said, “and they find great value in the leadership of Dr. MacLennan, as do I,” said Christie Wood, a trustee who strongly opposed the firing, according to The Spokesman Review. “I think this is a train wreck for the rest of the trustees that we have personal liability that you’re bringing upon us with this motion. It doesn’t make any sense at all to remove this president.”

With the help of interim trustees nominated by NWCCU, the board approved the presidential hiring of Nick Swayne in June 2022. However, the board then decided to suspend Nick Swayne a few months later without cause and inject Greg South as interim president. Swayne waged a lawsuit against the school for the suspension. Then came NWCCU’s February threat to strip NIC’s accreditation.

Where the college is now

With pressure from NWCCU and a judge’s order to reinstate Swayne as president, the board decided to maintain Swayne as president. However, they simultaneously nullified his presidency after the conservative majority-backed attorney Art Macomber found Swayne’s initial hiring the year before illegal. This move again drew the ire of students and staff as such a nullification goes directly against NWCCU’s mandate that Swayne remains president as long as his lawsuit and the commission’s accreditation loom.

“If this motion is passed, I can guarantee you we will lose accreditation. Simple as that,” said Swayne, according to KREM.

Students, faculty, alumni and other community members have banded together to create SaveNIC.org to warn the community how the college’s loss of accreditation could impact the state’s northern counties. They posit that Banducci’s leadership has cost the school $5.2 million in cancelled gifts, lawsuits, hiring firms to replace NIC members and other values.

Swayne subsequently won his lawsuit and has been reinstated as president of NIC. However, NWCCU’s final judgment on the school’s accreditation will not occur until June 23. When that time comes, Swayne and Board Chair Greg McKenzie, who voted to first suspend and then nullify Swayne’s presidency, will have to work together to make their accreditation plea.

The post How this college’s conservative takeover has led to lawsuits and accreditation troubles appeared first on University Business.

Legislatures in Indiana and Texas are remodeling their financial allocation to colleges and universities based on an outcomes-based formula rather than blanket recommendations based on enrollment as each state grapples with higher education’s most prevailing trends: student workforce preparation and faltering enrollment.

“The current model is one that’s based upon contact hours, heavily influenced by enrollment and type of courses offered,” says Ray Martinez III, president and CEO of the Texas Association of Community Colleges (TACC), according to Diverse. “What do we need to do as a matter of state policy to ensure that students have the support they need, the scaffolding to ensure they can complete a post-secondary credential?”

More from UB: Ghosts of Mississippi: Since last June, 7 presidents have stepped down in the state

Texas tackles workforce demands at the community college level

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott approved legislation on Monday to increase its community college biennium funding by nearly 25% for $2.2 billion, according to Dallas Innovates. Aside from the increase in funding, the legislation also marks a bold new direction for which colleges will earn the lion’s share. Texas will now fund its community colleges based on upward student transfer rates, high school dual degree completion, and whether they’re awarding “credentials of value.” Credentials of value include badges, certificates and degrees that “position graduates for well-paying jobs” in high-demand fields.

Texas’ former community college state funding formula relied almost entirely on contact hours, according to the Texas Commission on Community College Finance (TxCCCF), which strongly recommended the outcomes-based changes to the state. TxCCCF found that 2021 was Texas’ worst year for community college enrollment, which is particularly damaging for the state considering that the sector makes up more than 40% of its post-secondary student enrollment.

By repositioning the state’s 50 community colleges to deliver credentials of values while promoting college affordability, TxCCCF and Texas legislatures believe they are in a prime placement to recoup state enrollment by churning out workforce-ready individuals.

“A highly educated and skilled workforce is critical for Texas to remain the most attractive state to do business, and community colleges are ground zero for students to access the necessary skills and training for in-demand careers,” said Sen. Brandon Creighton, according to the Austin American-Statesman. “This new funding framework will only encourage more successful programs for Texas to train the workforce of the future.”

Indiana wants to bring students back

With only 48% of Indiana’s citizens being credential or degree earners, Gov. Eric Holcomb wants to increase the rate of Hoosiers with postsecondary education to 60% by 2025. With public college tuition and fees decreasing 4% over the past five years and the state recuperating from one of its lowest enrollment rates in recent history, Indiana’s 2023 legislative session seeks to bump state college funding by $130 million in the next biennium budget.

With a revamped budget comes an updated budget strategy. On top of the base funding each college and university will receive, they will also be eligible for additional funding based on five metrics: quality and career relevance, completion, college-going rate, quantity of adult students and graduation retention rates.

For example, colleges that score 80% of their forecasted goal on one of those five metrics will receive 80% of the additional funding they were promised. That additional funding earned in the first year of the biennium would be guaranteed in year two. It then has the potential to build from there.

Equity concerns with outcomes-based funding

While more states become outcome-oriented when deciding which colleges and universities to fund, some professionals believe doing so can hurt minority-serving institutions.

Institutions that serve students and color and those from lower-income households are already under-resourced. If they can’t deliver on state metrics, their situation will never improve, creating a “self-fulfilling prophecy,” wrote Dr. Kalya C. Elliott, interim director of Education Trust and co-author of the report cautioning against outcomes-based funding.

The post Why these 2 states are changing their higher ed funding model appeared first on University Business.

These are some key takeaways EAB gathered in their latest meta-report that creates a comprehensive picture of higher education’s future college cohort: “Gen P.” It draws from conversations with over 20,000 high school students, counselors, parents, EAB partners and college enrollment teams.

“Gen P” students have been molded by a world event that few can compare to, and thus they are unique in their college preferences. EAB aims to identify who they are so higher ed leaders can identify their needs—and win their selection.

More from UB: Digital credentials: Higher education’s new frontier

1. Gen P wants higher ed to be vocal about mental health offerings

In the 2021-22 academic year, 87% of public schools reported that the pandemic negatively impacted students’ socioemotional development, according to the CDC. Similarly, EAB reports that depression and anxiety have steadily increased in that period, partially due to their uptick in social media use and online interactivity. The issue has gotten so bad the U.S. Surgeon General believes social media deserves a warning label as youth mental health has become “the defining public health issue of our time.”

With the declining quality of youth mental health coalescing with their poorly matured socio-emotional development, 22% of students in 2023 opt out of college because they are “not mentally ready,” according to EAB. That’s an 8% rise compared to 2021. Moreover, the rates of first-generation and low-income students reporting this are higher.

2. Less confident about college success

EAB reports that 73% of counselors believe the pandemic weakened their students’ academic preparation at least moderately. Their concerns aren’t unfounded: Average assessment scores between 2020 and 2022 have dropped by 5%, the largest ever recorded by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

Students’ academic troubles interweave with their stunted social and mental development, making them feel as if they might not belong if they pursued a route in higher education. Consequently, 26% of students are worried about successfully pursuing a degree, which is one of the leading issues for turning a cold shoulder to college.

3. Holding higher ed in lower regard

From 2017 to 2022, freshman enrollment has decreased across three major sectors of higher education: public 4-year (2.9%), public 2-year (22%) and private 4-year (1.8%). While enrollment seems to have either increased or steadied in 2022, the 5-year decline is driven by a massive drop in 2020.

Despite leveling off last year, high school student sentiment for high education has become undeniably worse. Specifically, a fifth of students (20%) now agree “college isn’t worth the cost.” In 2019, less than a tenth agreed with that statement (8%).

And although higher ed’s reputation has taken a massive hit since the pandemic, its enrollment has long since declined. A separate report EAB conducted between 2016 and 2020 found that the rate of college-going high school graduates declined by 10%.

Among the top four reasons students are deciding against college, three have to do with the bottom line: cost.

Top factors students are deterred from attending college

• Cost concerns/debt (70%)
• Costs outweighing earning potential (34%)
• Academic readiness (33%)
• Cost of living (31%)

Gen P is only willing to enroll in higher education if it provides quantitative financial outcomes. This may explain why enrollment in liberal arts colleges has sharply declined over the same period as general enrollment in higher ed has.

4. Hunger for in-person events

The rate of prospective students attending campus visits has bounced back to 2019 levels, and while college fair attendance hasn’t entirely recuperated, they have increased. Similarly, in-person events have increased by 38% in 2022, while virtual event show rates have decreased by 58%.

The most popular recruitment event preferred by students were medium-sized, on-campus events with 50-100 attendees.

While virtual events have decreased significantly, EAB believes colleges should keep hybrid events for low-income students who do not have the time or money to attend events in person.

5. Digital engagement demand

A college’s website can make or break students’ esteem for an institution. For example, nine out of ten prospects make a point of visiting the website of a college they’re considering. Among them, 89% agree that “A well-designed website will improve” their opinion of a college, and 81% agree that “a poorly designed website will negatively affect” their opinion of a college.

While nearly three-quarters of students reported engaging with colleges via social media in 2023, an 11% bump over two years, students still prefer email as their main communication channel.

6. Students’ search behavior is shifting

Students are beginning their college search way later than four years ago. While the rate of students starting their college search their spring sophomore year was 67% in 2019, it was down 40% in 2023. However, EAB is unconvinced that this is a long-term trend, as the pandemic could have disrupted their priorities.

One long-term trend regarding students’ college selection process is that they visit colleges later. EAB posits that one possible reason is that students are waiting to know whether they were accepted and if their financial aid package is worthy enough to consider attending.

Similarly, Black and Hispanic/Latinx students are more likely than any other race/ethnicity to apply to an institution for being test optional. This is likely due to professional organizations purporting that standardized tests contain inherent biases against these demographics.

Trends exacerbated by the pandemic

Most of Gen P’s traits did not arise in a vacuum. EAB believes that some of their most significant characteristics result from long-developing trends that the pandemic helped push to the forefront. Among them are:

• Mental health concerns
• Academic achievement
• Equity gaps
• Student value of higher ed

The post Know who you enroll: the 6 traits of the upcoming college student appeared first on University Business.

Since June 2022, seven presidents have stepped down from a college or university in Mississippi, which comprises nearly half the Magnolia State’s total 4-year institutions. Five of those exits have come in the last three months. Among the seven to step down, the majority left on unfavorable terms.

Moreover, only two institutions have named a full-time successor since their president’s departure (Delta State and the University of Southern Mississippi), leaving a considerable chunk of Mississippi’s colleges and universities with vacant seats in executive leadership.

While the number of departing presidents has piled up all at once, several of them enjoyed a tenure of nine years or more, including Robert Pearigen (Millsaps College, 13 years), Rodney D. Bennet (University of Southern Mississippi, 9 years) and William LaForge (Delta State University, 9 years). The average tenure among the seven presidents who have exited is about six years, which is on par with today’s average president turnover nationally. However, the tenure for Mississippi’s HBCU presidents to have stepped down is only about three years.

More from UB: Despite regulation efforts and student complaints, this popular edtech platform marches on

Walter is stepping down from Tougaloo after four years following a faculty “mass exodus,” a 40-year enrollment low of fewer than 700 students in 2021 and pressure from both students and alumni. Students voted no-confidence in Walters in 2022 and one alumni group formed against her leadership amassed more than 1,500 signatures in a petition calling for her removal.

“There is discontentment among our ranks directly related to low student enrollment, a decrease in campus morale, horrid student living conditions, and questionable financial practices that have negatively impacted the college,” the petition said, according to Mississippi Today.

Weeks after Millsaps College President Robert Pearigen announced his resignation after over a decade of service, Ivy Taylor announced she was leaving Rust College after three years, though why has yet to be answered. Rust’s board even declined to specify whether her exit was a firing or resignation. The Board of Trustees governing Mississippi’s public universities, the Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL), terminated Felecia Nave from Alcorn State University after the school’s community began calling for her resignation in 2021 after rapid enrollment decline and administrative resignations, similar to Walters.

Less than a month before that, Jackson State University’s Thomas K. Hudson resigned after being placed on administrative leave, making him the seventh president to leave the school since 2010. Jackson State’s faculty senate voted no confidence against Hudson in January for damaging the community’s trust in school leadership and for his frequent absences from key meetings.

The IHL replaced Rodney D. Bennett from the University of Southern Mississippi in July 2022, which was nearly a year sooner than the president had initially announced he’d be stepping down. At Delta State University, IHL gave then-President William LaForge notice of his leave “just prior” to making a public statement, leaving LaForge “very disappointed.”

The post Ghosts of Mississippi: Since last June, 7 presidents have stepped down in the state appeared first on University Business.