On March 4, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee held a hearing to look at how well institutions of higher education are preparing individuals to enter the 21st century workforce. The hearing comes as Congress prepares to reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA). Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) presided over the hearing. In his opening statement, he said, “Keeping the American dream alive for workers of today and tomorrow…begins in our schools and our institutions of higher education where the skills needed to perform these jobs are sowed.” According to the Department of Labor, “Over 80 percent of the fastest growing jobs in the Country require some college education,” Sen. Enzi said. “As the need for advanced skills continues to grow, it seems clear that our institutions of higher education must step up to fill that need.” Witnesses primarily focused their comments on changes to the HEA that would benefit nontraditional students.
Speaking to the growing importance of community colleges, Dr. Charles Bohlen of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) said that “community colleges enroll 44 percent of all U.S. undergraduates (measured in terms of head count),” and that they enroll “46 percent of all African American students, 55 percent of all Hispanic students, and 46 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander students in higher education.” Noting a spike in enrollment over the last year, Dr. Bohen said, “Most of our colleges report that the recent spike in enrollments…has been due to both the baby boom echo of traditional college-aged students, as well as older individuals who are under-employed or are recently unemployed.”
Dr. Bohlen made several suggestions for strengthening the HEA. He said that many community colleges “do not receive adequate recognition for their role in educating the nation’s teachers,” adding that they provide initial teacher preparation and are “heavily engaged in professional development for K-12 teachers; post-baccalaureate certification for undergraduate majors in non-teaching fields; encouraging high school students to enter the teaching field; and training paraprofessionals whose skills must be enhanced as a result of the No Child Left Behind Act.” Subsequently, the AACC proposes a new program within the HEA that would aid community colleges in furthering their teacher training programs by providing $25 million for a competitive grant program.
He also recommended eliminating the “50 percent rule,” which currently denies Title IV eligibility for student aid programs to schools that offer more than 50 percent of their courses by correspondence or have 50 percent of their students enrolled in such courses. Stating that the rule was originally intended to prevent fraud and abuse of student aid programs, Dr. Bohlen highlighted the importance of distance education: “Distance education is a tremendous and exciting development in American higher education…More than three million students attending colleges and universities are now taking distance education courses.”
Beth Buehlmann, Vice President and Director of the Center for Workforce Preparation (CWP) at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said that “workforce development is among the top three concerns” of the chamber’s business members. “In CWP surveys of small and medium-sized businesses conducted over the past three years, employers report difficulty in finding qualified workers due to a lack of skills,” she said. Further, “Even more revealing were their responses when asked about the ability of their current workforce in meeting their future skill requirements. Within two years, about 30% of these employers no longer believe that the skills of their workforce will keep pace.”
In order to alleviate the threat to American competitiveness, Ms. Beuhlmann said, “We must address the shortage of well-educated and highly skilled workers by ensuring employers and their employees have access to continuing education and training that is flexible and responsive to the rapid changes in the marketplace. Lifetime education and training is no longer an option, it is a necessity.” In particular, Ms. Beuhlmann noted the increases in nontraditional students in higher education: “These are working adults trying to balance careers, family responsibilities, financial and other personal obligations to get the education they need to advance in the workforce.” She recommended that Congress consider several reforms to the HEA, including changes in financial aid eligibility for less-than-halftime students, greater flexibility in the utilization of distance learning programs, and incentives for institutions to develop programs and schedules for working adults.
Dr. Diana Oblinger, Executive Director of Higher Education at Microsoft, concurred with the need to address the increase in nontraditional students through the HEA reauthorization, saying that nearly three-quarters of undergraduate students had one or more of the following nontraditional characteristics: delayed enrollment between graduation from high school and entry into college; part-time college attendance for at least part of the academic year; full-time employment while enrolled; financial independence from parents; children and other dependents; single parenting responsibilities; and high school completion through a GED or other means.
“The student population is also much more diverse that it once was,” Dr. Oblinger said. “Women now represent fifty-six percent of the student population versus forty-two percent in 1970, and one-third of currently enrolled college students define themselves as non-white.”
Dubbing students born in or after 1982 the “Net Generation,” Dr. Oblinger noted that these students have very different learning styles. “IT [information technology] is integral in their work, communication, entertainment and education,” she said. “Their learning preferences tend toward teamwork, experiential activities, the use of technology and engagement. This generation learns by doing,” she stated, noting that there is a contrast between student and faculty teaching and learning preferences. Dr. Oblinger added that many companies are looking for certain competencies in their workers, beyond “successful intelligence,” such as good communication and interpersonal skills, strategic perspective, creativity, being results-oriented, and being willing to adapt to new environments by learning throughout their lives.
