Obama’s community college plan fits higher ed in Valley

It is tempting to dismiss President Obama’s plan to provide free community college tuition because it is unlikely that the Republican- controlled Congress will approve it. Nevertheless, one benefit of his proposal is that it will stimulate a discussion about the role of higher education.

The defining principles behind the president’s plan are first, that access to higher education is critical to both the future of individuals and the economy of the nation and second, that community colleges are the best gateway to higher education for many high school graduates.

Like many federal initiatives, this proposal assumes a “one size fits all” mentality. By focusing on community colleges, the plan does not account for the multiple ways that two-year degrees are earned in public higher education, especially in the Mahoning Valley.

Students in the Mahoning Valley can earn associate degrees at three different public institutions. The emergence and growth of Eastern Gateway Community College is well documented and welcomed. Lost in that success story is that both Youngstown State University and the Kent State branches in Trumbull and Columbiana counties offer associate degrees.

In fiscal year 2012, the last year for which data are available at the Ohio Board of Regents, 825 associate degrees were awarded at the three institutions. Eastern Gateway awarded less than 20 percent of those degrees. YSU awarded 17 percent and the Kent State branches awarded the remaining 63 percent. In other words 80 percent of the associate degrees in the region were awarded outside community colleges as strictly defined. YSU and Kent State students enrolled in two- year programs are paying near university-level tuition for their degrees.

University system

During his administration, Chancellor Eric Fingerhut envisioned a University System of Ohio in which associate degrees were only granted at community colleges and Ohio’s public universities focused on bachelor degrees and graduate education. This model is present in many states. Specific roles were also defined for YSU and Kent State.

If higher education in Ohio was restructured along these lines, all two-year degrees would be offered through Eastern Gateway at community college tuition. YSU and Kent State would offer programs and degrees with minimal overlap, especially at the graduate level.

The current arrangement, an artifact of history and politics, and like Obama’s plan, was designed to broaden access. It is also unlikely to be changed because Ohio’s public universities have too much invested in the status quo. However, we are in a prolonged period of limited resources for public higher education. A true system could not only reduce costs to students but also create efficiencies and cost savings for the individual universities, while not reducing access.

Students already have access to free tuition leading to college credits or an associate degree in the Mahoning Valley. Perhaps the most visible is the Youngstown Early College. Currently YEC enrolls 165 disadvantaged but promising students from the Youngstown public schools, all of which earn college credit while completing their high school education. The best and most motivated students can complete high school with an associate degree from YSU.

This program has a history of funding challenges. The president should consider funding to stabilize existing Early College programs and allow for their expansion.

Another opportunity with a long history is what is commonly known as Senate Bill 140 (SB140). High school students meeting GPA requirements can enroll in college courses at YSU and other Valley institutions with their tuition paid by their local public school district.

Scholarships

This does not include scholarships such as the Pell Grant, Ohio Instructional Grant and those offered by the institutions themselves or other sources.

K-12 education was noticeably absent from the State of the Union address, meaning that Obama’s proposal does not address the most important barrier to higher education attainment — completion of high school and preparation for college while in high school.

According to the last census, 20 percemt of the adults over the age of 25 in the city of Youngstown have not completed high school, compared with 12 percent for the state as a whole. The drop-out rate particularly in inner city schools is at embarrassingly high levels. Open access universities such as YSU and community colleges spend millions of dollars on remedial education each year. Much of the “free tuition” under the president’s program will be spent on courses teaching what should have been learned in high school, also for free.

A consensus is being reached that higher education at least at the community college level is the new minimum educational standard. Community colleges will continue to play a critical role in transforming the lives of their students and supporting the economies of their regions. For proposals such as that of the president to have maximum benefit, they need to allow for the multiple ways that open-access education is available and coupled with addressing the problem of college preparation.

Dr. Thomas Maraffa retired from YSU after nearly 30 years as a faculty member in the Department of Geography. Between 2002 and 2010 he served as a member of President David Sweet’s Cabinet where he was a member of the planning team that led to the development of Eastern Gateway Community College.