Credentialed by 26: State Policy Recommendations Tennessee

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1 Credentialed by 26: State Policy Recommendations Tennessee The Forum for Youth Investment and the Tennessee College Access and Success Network 1704 Charlotte Avenue, Suite 200 Nashville, TN Phone: Fax: The Network s mission is to increase the number of Tennesseans with a postsecondary credential and to foster a college-going culture in the state. The Cady-Lee House 7064 Eastern Avenue, NW Washington, DC Phone: Fax: Ready by 21 and the Ready by 21 Logo are registered trademarks of the Forum for Youth Investment.

2 Credentialed by 26 State Policy Recommendations TENNESSEE Leaders across the country agree that America must have more citizens with a postsecondary credential to be successful in the 21st century. Policymakers in all 50 states are realizing that, in order to maintain economic vitality, their state s policies must support higher education access and success. Unfortunately, in an age of unprecedented budget cuts, direct funding for state higher education systems has been severely reduced. While direct funding for higher education obviously has considerable influence on college access and success, it is not the only way that states can support their college students. Postsecondary attainment is also heavily influenced by the programs, services, and supports made available to students by state agencies outside the higher education system. These agencies and systems include, but are not limited to: health and human services, child welfare, transportation, labor, economic development, and the K-12 system. States can and should examine the programs, services, and regulations of these other systems to ensure that they are supporting the post-secondary success of their citizens. The most pro-active states will institute college-friendly policies and procedures in each of these systems. At the very least, states should remove barriers to success and other college-adverse policies from each of these systems. The policy team at the Forum for Youth Investment administered a series of interviews with college access and success practitioners and specialists in Maryland, Florida and Tennessee. In partnership with local organizations we identified policy changes that will help these states better support postsecondary attainment. The interviews have been distilled into a short set of policy recommendations that focus on both regulatory and legislative opportunities, with a heavy emphasis on no-cost/low-cost solutions. Policymakers want, and need, reliable information about how to make their states more college-friendly. The following sixteen recommendations provide leaders with unbiased, cost-effective policy solutions that will be good for students, good for tax-payers, and good for the state. The Forum for Youth Investment is a nonprofit, nonpartisan "action tank" dedicated to helping states and communities make sure all young people are ready for college, work, and life. The Forum has been working with innovative policymakers since 1998, including Children s Cabinets and other coordinating bodies that work across sectors to support success for all young people in their state. 2

3 ACCOUNTABILITY AND DATA 1. Establish common college access and success frameworks to track standards and indicators for K12. (MEDIUM TERM; LOW COST) Increasing college access and success is a longitudinal effort and includes early and frequent investments in aspiration and awareness, consistent academic support, and specific financial aid, college selection, and matriculation support. College access and success is not limited to academics, and focused initiatives should extend to serve students in elementary and middle schools. With a common framework, Tennessee could share learning and best-practices more easily across the state. A diverse set of standards and indicators would allow schools and community partners to better know which students are truly on a path to postsecondary success rather than extrapolating from academic performance alone. Use of the framework would create opportunities for earlier and more frequent investments and interventions. 2. Increase transparency and availability of data for students and families in the postsecondary search process. (SHORT TERM; LOW COST) Choosing a postsecondary institution is one of the seminal decisions in the lives of young people and their families. Finding the right fit in a school is a critical factor for student retention and success. In order to make the right decision, students and families should be able to easily find critical data related to academics, graduation rates, and relevant extracurricular opportunities on websites or other related media. ACADEMIC AND VOCATIONAL SUPPORTS 3. Provide access to a trained College Counselor for every high school student. (LONG TERM; HIGH COST) In recent years, a number of Tennessee school district leaders (e.g. Henderson County, Milan Special School District, Bradley County) have created a college counselor position funded by their existing personnel budgets. Early reports indicate the positions have helped improve the college-going culture and increase college enrollment rates of these districts. College access programs such as The Ayers Scholars program have proven that access to a trained college counselor can have a dramatic impact on the collegegoing rates of a high school. Additional evidence from the GEAR UP Tennessee: Summative Statewide Evaluation, documented GEAR UP TN site coordinators as having a substantial impact on continued one-on-one college access support and follow up provided for students, as well as the assistance provided to parents regarding the financial aid/college application process. The barriers to college access and success for low-income, first generation students are social, cultural, historical, and financial. The process of increasing student aspiration and awareness is developmental. The search, selection, enrollment, and matriculation processes are part technical and part art form. The financial aid process involves planning, timely communication, unique relationships with families and institutions, and advocacy. For all of these reasons, college counseling must be understood as a profession with unique tools, strategies, and knowledge. While it involves School Counselors, Teachers, and the academic community at large, effective college counseling demands the focused attention and individualized support provided by a dedicated and focused College Counselor. 3

4 4. Increase investments in adult learners. (LONG TERM; MEDIUM COST) Adult learners present a unique opportunity for increasing postsecondary success in Tennessee. There are over 800,000 adults in our state with some college but no degree. Adult learners return to school because they see the value in it, and as such, tend to be dedicated, focused students; however, these students are not the same as traditional college students. Adult learners have different learning styles and many more demands on their time, including family commitments and jobs, and in some cases, apprehension at the prospect of adding yet another obligation to their already busy lives. These differences are important to understand in tailoring support services, delivery methods, and instruction. It is also important to recognize that these potential students may have many years of learning in the workplace, in the military, or independently. With less time available to spend pursuing a degree, they should not be forced to repeat learning they already have and should be provided reasonable access to academic credit for the college-level learning they currently possess. All public colleges and universities in Tennessee offer some form of credit for prior learning; institutions should be encouraged to make this process as transparent and accessible as possible for adult learners. 5. Increase equity and access to dual enrollment and dual credit courses for high school students. (SHORT TERM; LOW COST) Dual enrollment continues to demonstrate its value for increasing college access and success by providing students more rigorous courses, in a collegiate format, while also earning college credits. Equity and access to dual enrollment courses, particularly as it relates to cost, need to be a priority. Dual credit courses not only reduce the time it takes for a student to receive a technical certificate, but they also address current over-capacity issues on technology center campuses. A focus should be placed on developing pathways that encourage maximum student participation in college credit-earning opportunities while still in high school to help meet Tennessee s college completion goals. 6. Provide financial aid in installments, not a windfall. (LONG TERM; MEDIUM COST) Explore financial aid control options that ensure resources above and beyond direct costs are distributed in installments rather than in a lump sum. Receiving all aid, especially loans, upfront often results in students spending the needed funds on non-higher education and non-basic living expenses. This lack of financial planning leaves many students unable to cover the cost of needs that arise later in the academic year, resulting in drop outs or further debt. Additionally, when students drop out of school, they still have access to their aid. There needs to be a way to ensure the money returns to the lender. 7. Connect and coordinate economic development and college access and success efforts. (LONG TERM; LOW COST) An educated workforce is an essential element of economic development and corporate headquarter relocation. State and regional economic development efforts should partner with higher education institutions to align postsecondary curriculum, in order to create and expand employment opportunities that address the needs of the business community. For example, when Hemlock Semiconductor moved to Clarksville, it worked with Austin Peay State University to create an associate degree program in chemical engineering focused on preparing students for work at their plant. Additionally, when Volkswagen of America picked Chattanooga for its return to U.S. production in 2008, the education and training capabilities of Chattanooga State were critical to the selection of the Chattanooga area. Working with Volkswagen, Chattanooga State developed cooperative-education-intensive training and education in 4

5 the field of mechatronics that is taught at the VW Academy, on the Volkswagen manufacturing facility site. Additionally, strong partnerships between local businesses and municipalities have devised creative solutions to address college access and success initiatives. The best example of this type of initiative is the agreement between the Unilever company and Tipton County where the two entities reached an agreement where payment in lieu of taxes were directed to a college access fund overseen by the Southwest Tennessee Development District s REDI program. SOCIAL AND CIVIC SUPPORTS 8. Program priority funding for LEAPs (Lottery for Education: After School Programs) should be expanded to include college access and success services, designed to reinforce and complement academic programming currently being provided. (SHORT TERM; LOW COST) Currently, unclaimed Tennessee lottery revenues are invested solely in after school programs. To promote college access and success and align with the intention of the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship Programs, LEAP should extend prioritized funding to after school programs that emphasize college access and success, including but extending beyond the academic supports currently identified as funding priorities. 9. Engage students in meaningful conversations about policy change at every level. (SHORT TERM; LOW COST) Students are an exceptionally valuable, widely underutilized source of information for what would boost college access and success rates. To this end, students should be invited to participate in discussions about policy change at the institutional, system-wide, and state levels. Engagement opportunities must be genuine, diverse, and sustained if they are to be successful. BASIC SUPPORTS 10. Identify, document, and disseminate information on the availability of student support services and programs provided for students at Tennessee institutions. (SHORT TERM; LOW COST) Students and families engaged in the college search process seek a college that provides the best fit and chance for success. One critical component of this is the availability of transition supports, student supports services, and programs that address barriers to first-generation/low-income student success (i.e. federal TRIO programs). Additionally, many student and families seek student support resources for healthcare, mental health, special needs and learning disabilities. Currently, no consolidated resource as to where these opportunities are exists, and yet they can be critical to a student s choice of institution and ultimately his/her success once there. 11. Develop a comprehensive prevention approach at postsecondary institutions to promote emotional health and address mental illness, substance abuse, and suicide across the educational lifespan of students. (MEDIUM TERM; MEDIUM COST) Appropriate and effective support services are integral to student success. Students should have access to mental health and alcohol and drug treatment providers and information without being concerned about potential stigma associated with seeking help. It is critically important for counselors, student life workers, and students to be trained in how to recognize and appropriately respond to concerning behavior, 5

6 such as suicidal ideation, cutting themselves, binge drinking, and so forth. To support this individual level work in a sustainable way, colleges and universities should develop and implement prevention strategies designed not only to impact the individual student but the total campus environment. 12. Increase access to child care for students at postsecondary institutions, possibly through community partnerships with the faith-based community, and expand services to include siblings. (MEDIUM TERM; HIGH COST) Affordable child care can be the determining factor for whether or not a parent or guardian can enroll and persist in postsecondary education. Regardless their desire and ambition to pursue a college education, the immediate needs of the family are priority. This issue extends beyond students caring for their own children. Many low-income students play a significant role as caretaker, particularly in the out-of-school hours, for their younger siblings. When they decide to pursue/continue postsecondary education, they are often left with the difficult decision to invest in their future or make sure their siblings are cared for and safe. 13. Prioritize affordable, subsidized, and otherwise accessible housing near community colleges and consider policies that support access to housing for students and their families. (LONG TERM; HIGH COST) Students, particularly community college students, struggle with safe, affordable housing that is close to campus. Students and college access and success practitioners throughout the state identified housing difficulties as a substantial barrier to college completion. Though co-locating housing opportunities near college campuses is a long-term solution, policy leaders must pay attention to this critical component of access and success if they want to substantially increase college completion rates. It s important to note that while the cost of building new housing facilities is high, the strategic placement of them next to higher education institutions may not have any additional cost, and should be at least considered when the state, or a locality, builds new facilities. 14. Address transportation struggles for students. (MEDIUM TERM; MEDIUM COST) In many states, colleges offer a free or discounted public transportation pass. Often, this service is provided via partnership between the institution and the local transit authority. Even if some or all of the cost is passed on to students, at least it can be paid for via financial aid rather than becoming a dealbreaking out-of-pocket cost for students. For rural students, institutions should be mindful of the transportation challenges students face and schedule classes in blocks and at convenient commuting times, increase online offerings, and do what they can to facilitate ride-shares and shuttles. Existing transportation programs administered by the state HR agencies have been unfairly stigmatized as being transportation services solely for the elderly and not the entire community. Consideration should be given to ensuring transportation services are marketed to the entire community and routes to higher education institutions, where currently none exist, are created. Student, nonprofit, education, and higher education institution voices should be included when transportation plans are being developed to help ensure user insight and the inclusion of college access and success goals. 15. Expand partnerships between businesses and postsecondary institutions to prioritize hiring of current students. (SHORT TERM; LOW COST) Part-time and flexible full-time jobs provide much needed financial stability for students as well as opportunities for resume building and skills development. Postsecondary institutions and businesses within their geographic areas should partner to increase access to jobs for students by offering priority 6

7 hiring for current students, particularly for evening and night positions or flexible hour positions that would not interfere with traditional class schedules. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 16. Broaden technical assistance support for local leadership. (SHORT TERM; LOW COST) County and city leaders need more information and support around college access and success strategies and implementation for their communities. The County and Municipal Technical Assistance programs already provide technical assistance on a broad range of county and city operations issues. Since college access and success influences business recruitment, the local tax base, and has policy implications, CTAS and MTAS should include support for local leaders in promoting and sustaining college access and success opportunities for their residents. As one mayor interviewed stated, Most mayors just don t know how to promote college success in our communities. 7

8 The Tennessee College Access and Success Network 1704 Charlotte Ave Suite 200 Nashville, TN Phone: Fax: