Article in Brief: Statewide Educational Attainment Goals

Article in Brief: Statewide Educational Attainment Goals

Jen Lombardo. Assistant Director of Student Affairs: Academic Services University of Chicago

Student Affairs is a broad field that seeks to meet the needs of diverse student populations, develop various skills and competencies, and expand student perspectives. Most practitioners are concerned with the development and wellbeing of the individuals they work with closely and the annual goals of their office or division. With so much on the plates of Student Affairs staff, it can be easy to lose track of how our work aligns with institutional or state goals for educational attainment and workforce development. That said, pressure on colleges and universities is growing to improve graduation rates to justify both public spending on higher education and increasing loan burdens on students. In an effort to connect our work to larger goals and learn more about this area of education policy, this article will summarize a brief from the Lumina Foundation which illustrates processes of developing statewide educational attainment goals.

The Lumina Foundation is a private organization committed to improving access to postsecondary education. The foundation sponsors research and promotes policy throughout the country to meet these ends (Lumina Foundation, 2018a). One main focus of the foundation has been on educational attainment goals, which reference the education level of a country or state. In 2009, the Lumina Foundation set their attainment goal to increase the population of Americans who complete an educational degree, certificate, or other “high-quality credential” to 60 percent by 2025 (Lumina Foundation, 2018b, p.2). In service of this goal, Lumina provides resources to states to develop and achieve their own attainment goals. Lumina (2018b) reported that as of March 2018, 41 out of 50 states have established goals for postsecondary attainment, which are guided by the anticipation of state workforce needs and the overall improvement of educational outcomes.

The Lumina Foundation produced a brief in March 2018 sharing two case studies of the development and implementation of statewide educational attainment goals: Arizona and New Hampshire. Arizona has a decentralized higher education system and a political environment that “prides itself on independence” (Lumina Foundation, 2018b, p.5). The movement to create a statewide educational attainment goal started with community-based organizations and select policymakers who wanted to see an increase in educational outcomes and greater equity in educational attainment across racial and ethnic groups in the state. The Lumina Foundation helped bring this coalition together, and they targeted the state Board of Regents. Once the Regents were bought in, partnership-building accelerated and the Achieve60AZ campaign was born to promote the goal. Achieve60AZ is less than two years old, so it is early to see outcomes, but Lumina praises the Arizona process for mirroring the political environment in the state – independent and grassroots rather than top-down. By building a broad coalition of non-profits, educational institutions, and policymakers, Arizona has ensured that the movement and momentum last much longer than any one leader’s term in office (Lumina Foundation, 2018b).

New Hampshire presented a different scenario. The state historically had high educational attainment rates in comparison to the rest of the country, but it has begun to fall in recent years. The decrease in attainment levels drew concern from various governmental, educational, and business stakeholders from both sides of the aisle. Lumina stepped in to coordinate parties with a shared vision and ultimately help them realize the collective momentum provided by the diversity of stakeholders committed to this issue. The coalition produced an official New Hampshire attainment goal, and the governor of the state signed on. After that, the community college system and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation both added the goal to their strategic plans, signifying broad buy-in from a variety of sectors. Working groups determined key levers to improving attainment and developed strategies to address each focus area. Multiple private organizations pledged funds to hire full-time staff to coordinate efforts and track progress toward the state’s goals. Lumina praised New Hampshire’s tactics for bringing prominent, nonpartisan leaders together from a range of sectors, and they acknowledged the need for the business community and other private organizations to be involved, especially in the context of a small state government (Lumina Foundation, 2018b).

These case studies underline the reality that the political environment of a state must be considered when developing policy, that building coalitions with multiple constituencies is crucial to success, and that resources and coordination can help catalyze change. These lessons are good reminders for Student Affairs practitioners on college campuses, which can also be highly political in nature.

This brief only includes two case studies on the development of state educational attainment goals, but Lumina provides additional information on their website about the progress of statewide educational attainment goals. Curious what your state’s educational attainment goal is? A list of state goals with links to more information can be found on the Lumina Foundation’s Strategy Labs website (Lumina Foundation, 2016).

References

Lumina Foundation. (2016). States with Higher Education Attainment Goals. Retrieved from: <http://strategylabs.luminafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Stat…?

Lumina Foundation. (2018). Lumina Fact Sheet. Retrieved from: <https://www.luminafoundation.org/files/resources/lumina-fact-sheet-2018-…

Lumina Foundation. (2018). Statewide Educational Attainment Goals. Retrieved from: <https://www.luminafoundation.org/files/resources/01-statewide-attainment…