September 26, 2006
State Legislators Welcome Federal Higher Ed Commission Report
But higher education must remain a state matter, NCSL task force says
DENVER—State legislators welcome the work of the Spellings Commission on the Future of Higher Education, which released recommendations today. Like U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, state lawmakers across the nation recognize that American higher education needs dramatic reforms. A National Conference of State Legislatures task force has spent the past 18 months examining this very issue and will release its own recommendations in November.
"The Spellings Commission's work is a helpful first step. We need a national dialogue about how to improve higher education and the federal government can play a major role in highlighting problems and moving the discussion forward," said Connecticut Representative Denise Merrill, co-chair of NCSL's Blue Ribbon Commission on Higher Education, a bipartisan task force of state legislators.
"But when it's time to put the reforms in place," Merrill continued, "that's a state responsibility. Higher education has always been a state matter and it must remain a state matter."
The federal government's limited involvement in higher education today includes funding academic research and financial aid for low-income students. The states are responsible for other funding and regulation, both of which have decreased in recent years as state budgets have suffered.
The college student of today pays an unprecedented sum for an education that many believe is no longer the best in the world, statistics show. In higher education attainment today, the United States is ranked ninth among major industrialized countries, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which the Spellings Commission report cites.
NCSL's Blue Ribbon Commission on Higher Education agrees with many of the Spellings Commission's strategies to revitalize American colleges and universities so they can again graduate world-class minds. Some of the key points that will be made in the NCSL Commission Report are:
- State policy must ensure that colleges and universities become more accessible, affordable and accountable for student performance.
- State legislators need to rethink higher ed funding and make more strategic funding decisions.
- State higher education policy needs to better reflect the changing student population.
- Financial aid must be restructured at both the state and federal level, and the federal government should retain its commitment to making sure the neediest students can go to college.
- Higher education institutions and American public schools must find ways to work better together on student preparation and success.
"Because higher education is a state responsibility, state legislators need to be at the forefront of the creation of a new state public agenda for higher education that emphasizes access, quality, productivity and accountability" said Wisconsin Representative Rob Kreibich, co-chair of NCSL's Commission. "The main message is that higher education is an important investment to the success of your citizens, to the vitality of your state economy and to the competitiveness of the United States."
NCSL's Blue Ribbon Commission on Higher Education is composed of six Republican and six Democrat state legislators. T
NCSL is the bipartisan organization that serves the legislators and staff of the states, commonwealths and territories. It provides research, technical assistance and opportunities for policymakers to exchange ideas on the most pressing state issues and is an effective and respected advocate for the interests of the states in the American federal system.
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