The Fact Book was released at the SREB http://www.sreb.org/
annual meeting yesterday.
It provides an in-depth look the progress 16 southern states are making in providing post secondary education to their students.
Brian Noland, West Virginia Higher Education Chancellor, attended this week’s SREB annual meeting in Northern Virginia.
Noland said only 17 percent of West Virginians have a college degree, making the state 50th in the nation, and the state needs to find a way to produce more college graduates.
“One of the things that we’re focusing on is individuals who started college but never finished,” Noland said.
Noland said Suzanne Shipley, Shepherd University President, is chairing an effort to bring more adults back to college and it’s hoped that effort will be in place by the spring of 2010.
"What we’re going to do is to target adults with 90 hours but no degree, they’re a year or less from receiving that degree, to bring them back to our institutions to produce more college graduates immediately,” Noland said
West Virginia has a public four year college graduation rate of 46 percent, which is below the 52 percent average for the 16 states that belong to SREB.
Noland said the state needs to put in place a range of policies to get students better prepared for college.
“That’s aligning our curricula, aligning our assessments, getting secondary instructors working in colleges and college instructors working in the local schools, and changing our financial aid systems,” Noland said.
One year at a public four year college in West Virginia represents about 10 percent of median family income.
But Joe Marks, SREB director of data services, says West Virginia colleges and universities remain more affordable than many of the other southern schools.
“West Virginia prices are in the middle of the pack,” Marks said.
“One year at a public four year college or university in West Virginia for in-state undergraduates in ’08 cost about $4500 a year compared to a regional average of $5000 and a national average of $5500.”
Noland said West Virginia does not invest as much as the other SREB states in its higher education system.
“We rely much more heavily upon students and parents to cover the cost of college than any other state in the south,” Noland said.
“When you look at total dollars per student we’re ranked 16th out of 16 states. Our faculty salaries are ranked 16th out of 16 states. We have a lot of work to do in that area as well. We’ve got our challenges ahead of us.”
Noland said the state’s colleges and universities need to become more efficient with their money by making more effective use of space, saving on energy, and eliminating programs that don’t have many students.
“Our institutions need to focus on niche, focus on those programs that are specific to their mission, and begin to return to the core of their academic enterprise rather than to try to be all things to all people,” Noland said.