I was glued to the TV last night for President Obama’s State
of the Union Address, and these are just some ponderings I’ve had over the past
few hours. J
First, the President called for accountability and
affordability. Suggesting that federal subsidies will be based on affordability
not necessarily by accreditation. He called for Congress to ensure that
“affordability and value are included in determining which colleges receive
types of federal aid.” Now personally, I am curious on what the President finds
as valuable. Is his interpretation of value just the academic degree and name
of the university? Or will it also include the services and engagement that
Student Affairs brings to the table.
Additionally, he
mentioned of a College Scorecard that parents and students may use to compare
universities to one another in order to figure out which college allows the
individuals to, as the President said, “get the most bang for your educational
buck.”
Now most of us Student Affairs people cringed during this portion
of the speech. But upon locating the Scorecard, which I’ve linked at the
bottom, it honestly wasn’t that crazy. The few points of information on it were
points that, as institutions of higher education, we should already have
posted. The Scorecard seems to simply make getting that information a
‘one-stop-shop’. I’ll be interested in seeing how the questions concerning
institutions to follow their alumni much closer will turn out, but that’s
another blog.
What seemed to be the real challenge for Student Affairs was
bridging this line that the President seemed to have drawn between degree and
experience.
Let me explain. In an overall context of the education
portion of the speech, the President was adamant on getting the number of
degrees granted up, at the lowest possible cost, disregarding the holistic practice
that student affairs is pushing, which does require additional resources and
time. Economically it makes sense. However, that seems to be how he is drawing
a line in the sand between the degree and the experience.
Let me tell you, Twitter, during these large societal events
is amazing. Twitter was all a flutter in #sachat, #studentaffairs, #emchat,
#higheredlive, #sapro and many others that we SA professionals follow. Many
first reactions seemed to question where in Student Affairs would universities
and colleges cut in order to make college more affordable? And everyone’s
defenses were high.
I think after an hour or so of tweeting the overall consensus
was that rather than worry about what needed to be cut, we needed to be more
purposeful and to look at this as a good challenge to meet. That our learning
outcomes not only meet university standards and expectations but also how it
aids in retention and job placement.
I feel that the President may be caught in a Catch 22 and is
trying to make the best with budget issues, retention and graduation rates and
unemployment. However I’m not sure if he is moving forward in the best way.
Challenging institutions to raise the number of graduates and make college affordable
for more students is admirable, but at what point does the quality and value of
the degree become unbalanced with cost? Will we sacrifice engagement and the
whole student for higher admissions and graduation rates?
It is definitely different than a few decades ago, when the
government found higher education a key component to the success and
progression of the United States and supplied an abundance of resources to
ensure that it was successful, rather than continuing to pull support and call
it a tax burden and a way to out compete other countries.
I’m looking forward to the next few weeks as things role out
from the White House. I’m hoping that was as we move forward some of these
ponderings will be put to rest with more information and details. Either way,
if you have Twitter, follow some of the hashtags and websites that I have
mentioned because there should be some interesting conversations coming in the
next few days. J
Text of the State of the Union:
Scorecard:
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