Colleges failing on job front
All this scrutiny on K-12 is warranted and important. With three propositions on the Nov. 6 ballot attempting to thwart the progress of Idaho's reform movement, we need to address public education shortcomings and work together to improve them.
The same holds true for our colleges.
Late last week, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released - actually, unleashed might be a better term - a scathing report assessing Idaho's post-secondary public institutions. The study, called "Leaders and Laggards," rates post-secondary institutions in all 50 states on how effectively and efficiently they're preparing college students for jobs and careers.
Perhaps unfairly, the report aggregates the state's four public colleges/universities (34,684 students) and its three two-year community colleges (10,139 students), rather than addresses them individually. Still, the overall assessment is shocking. Here are the categories and Idaho's grades:
n Efficiency and cost-effectiveness
* 4-year schools: F
* 2-year schools: D
n Meeting labor market demand
* 4-year schools: D
* 2-year schools: F
n Student access and success:
* 4-year schools: F
* 2-year schools: C
n Transparency and accountability
* 4-year schools: D
* 2-year schools: F
"With tuition growing, debt loads increasing, students questioning the marketplace value of their degrees, and large amounts of taxpayer dollars invested, the business community and the public are starting to ask questions of policymakers and higher education leaders," said Margaret Spellings, former U.S. Education Secretary and current president of the U.S. Chamber's Institute for Competitive Workforce. "This report begins to look at how states are doing in preparing students for jobs after college and the value state taxpayers are getting in meeting the demands of local economies and employers."
In Idaho, according to the report, there's a whole lot of room for improvement. Some of that can be facilitated by a statewide business community that is eager to help educators prepare students for today's and tomorrow's employment demands. In some cases, like Avista Utility's outstanding entrepreneurial program, help is readily available to develop valuable curricula.
Much more information on the report can be found at the Institute for Competitive Workforce website, http://icw.uschamber.com/reportcard/