The Chronicle: National Summit on Higher Education Concludes With a 25-Point Plan
Nearly 300 leaders from the worlds of business, higher education, and philanthropy convened in Washington on Thursday to discuss how to carry out the recommendations of the U.S. secretary of education’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education. By the end of the day, they had produced a list of 25 “action items” but no plan for how to put them into practice.
The leaders of the work groups then presented the 25 revised recommendations that participants came up with over the course of the day. Among them were proposals to:
* Finance statewide postsecondary-education information systems that can produce reports on student outcomes. Make the information public.
* Reward institutions and state systems that adopt aligned school and college curricula and assessments.
* Design market research studies and compile data on adult learners and prospective adult learners.
* Ensure that institutional, state, and federal financial-aid and enrollment policies consider the needs of part-time students.
* Provide financing incentives so institutions can align resources and policies designed to recruit, retain, and graduate more low-income students.
* Increase private-sector investment in need-based aid.
* Create incentives and rewards for institutions and systems to improve postsecondary attainment rates and student learning at lower per-student costs.
* Remove regulatory, legislative, and academic barriers that prevent institutions and systems from creating collaborative and innovative programs that could lower per-student costs and create value.
* Increase public awareness and understanding of the results of accreditation through greater openness.
* Develop and pilot the voluntary use of measures of learning that could facilitate comparisons across institutions.
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