Condition of Higher Education in Pennsylvania
The Education Policy and Leadership Center has initiated and
will provide overall management for a short-term project that
will develop a report on "The Current Condition of Higher
Education in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania."
The report will summarize the current conditions and
circumstances of higher education across the Commonwealth, and
frame the key questions public policymakers need to ask as
they review the Commonwealth's system of higher education.
Key Questions:
The report will respond to five key questions.
- Who is currently being served by institutions of higher
education across the Commonwealth?
- Are there academically qualified students who want to go
to college but cannot find or gain admission to an affordable
institution?
- How much do the Commonwealth-funded colleges and
universities currently spend on remediation for college
students who enroll without the necessary academic
qualifications?
- Will Commonwealth institutions have the capacity to supply
the kind of educated and trained graduates in the appropriate
fields that are required to meet the needs of the
Commonwealth's emerging economy?
- How do Pennsylvania institutions currently earn and spend
their public and non-public funds?
Project Outline:
The Project will commence in early summer 2005. Early steps
include the collection of basic statistical data and a survey
of high school graduates. Those survey results will by
analyzed and combined with the analyses of IPEDS, PHEAA, and
College Board data.
The project's focus will then shift to analyzing the match
between the Commonwealth's changing economy and the likely
supply of college-educated workers. During this same time
period, the project team will analyze the spending patterns reflected
in the financial data that Commonwealth colleges and
universities supply to IPEDS and the data that institutions
receiving public appropriations from the Commonwealth supply
to the legislature and other state agencies.
A report will be issued by December 31, 2005.
The Team:
The Education Policy and Leadership Center will partner with
The Learning Alliance for Higher Education at the University
of Pennsylvania. The Learning Alliance is chaired by Dr.
Robert Zemsky.
The Project also will be informed by an
Analytic Work Team, comprised of nationally-recognized
researchers, and guided by a Project Advisory Panel. The
Advisory Panel will include a group of distinguished public
policy, education, business and civic leaders.
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