McDonnell Announces Higher Ed Opportunity Legislation

By Amber Lester Kennedy Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Governor Bob McDonnell made his priorities for higher education clear with the announcement of his legislation that aims to get all Virginia students employed in the nation’s “top jobs.”

At a Monday afternoon press conference, McDonnell formally announced his “Preparing for the Top Jobs of the 21st Century: The Virginia Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2011.” The legislation, still in draft form, includes recommendations made by his Higher Education Commission on Reform, Innovation and Investment at its December meeting at Virginia Commonwealth University. In December, McDonnell projected the new legislation’s implementation will cost $50 million.

McDonnell was joined at the press conference by Secretary of Education Gerard Robinson, Hampton University President William Harvey and Virginia Tech President Charles Steger. State Senator Tommy Norment (R-Williamsburg) is one of the bill’s patrons, and was at the event.

The “Top Jobs” legislation would seek to realize one of McDonnell’s goals: have state colleges issue an additional 100,000 degrees over the next 15 years, “making Virginia one of the most highly educated states in the nation.” The legislation places emphasis on boosting programming in the science, technology, engineering and math subjects (called STEM), along with a push to have more slots dedicated to in-state students at the state’s public colleges.

“The legislation will create the framework for sustained reform-based investment and will encourage meaningful innovation through the use of greater technology, year-round facilities usage and innovative and economical degree paths,” McDonnell said. “By implementing these reforms, more Virginia students will have access to Virginia institutions.” He added that the changes will attract new employers to Virginia, and better prepare Virginians to fill jobs that already exist in the state.

He said the focus on higher education will be a good investment, based on a recent study released by the Cooper Center that shows every dollar invested in higher education produces $13 in additional economic output. “It returns even more in new tax revenues to the Commonwealth than it costs,” he said.

Based on recommendations of the commission, the legislation calls for changes in three areas: greater economic opportunity and impact; reform-based investment; and affordable access for all Virginia students.

To increase the additional degrees for Virginians, the bill recommends increasing the enrollment of Virginia students, improving graduation and retention rates, and assisting students who have some college credit to complete their degrees.

The bill focuses on pushing degrees in what McDonnell is billing as the “top jobs in the 21st Century,” in the STEM disciplines and healthcare. It would provide for the creation of a not-for-profit STEM public-private partnership that would give incentives to businesses to collaborate with higher education institutions in STEM-related and other commercially viable research.

The legislation provides for reform-based investment and innovation, and promotes extending degree opportunities to citizens in creative, cost-effective ways. The bill says that the state’s higher education institutions’ six-year plans will address ways to make use of facilities and instructional resources year-round, enhance instruction and resource-sharing throughout higher ed through the use of technology and come up with innovative paths to degrees. It also calls for ongoing restructuring and managerial reforms in higher education.

McDonnell also proposes a new funding model with four components: basic operations and instruction; enrollment growth funding; need-based financial aid (for low- and middle-income families); and financial incentives to promote innovation.

This bill would also establish a six-year planning process to help officials with the implementation of the “Top Jobs” Act. A collaborative Higher Education Advisory Committee of executive and legislative branch representatives and higher education officials would form; its members would work to develop performance criteria for incentives, base funding policies, economic opportunity metrics, opportunities for additional managerial autonomy and more.

To make college more affordable, the act would provide enrollment-based funding to increase access to Virginia’s public and private colleges and universities. It would also enhance long-term affordability by first, implementing a stable funding model to relive pressure on tuition; second, developing need-based financial aid options for both low- and middle-income families; and third, creating a Revenue Stabilization Fund, or rainy day fund, that would help buffer higher education from future cuts that lead to tuition hikes.

The University of Virginia is already responding to McDonnell’s push, planning to add about 1,000 spaces for in-state students.

Officials at The College of William and Mary have expressed a desire to stay small, however. At a November campus forum on growth (read more here), a committee exploring the impacts of possible growth reported that the school has received pressure from state legislators to admit more in-state students. The College’s Associate Vice President for Government Relations Frances Bradford told the audience that the pressure isn’t going away.

At that time, Provost Michael Halleran said a decision to grow, by a proposed 50 additional students a year, was not imminent. “We felt if we’re going to grow, we’re going to do it strategically,” he said. “Everybody recognizes William and Mary is a special place partly because of its size.”