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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, MARCH 10, 2014
PAGE 3A
CAMPUS
Public university alliance aims to increase affordability
ASHLEY BOOKER
news@kansan.com
The University has created an alliance with 10 other large public universities to develop and share innovative ideas to help make college more affordable and to help college students succeed.
The University Innovations Alliance was established in response to a proposal last August by President Barack Obama to establish a college rating system that would allow students to compare college costs, graduation rates and debt information, and tie federal financial aid to college performance. Presidents and chancellors of the 11 universities have been invited to a summit at the White House on March 28 to discuss achieving
these goals. Ann Cudd, the vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Studies, will represent the University.
"I am excited to connect with national leaders on how we can improve access and graduation rates for low-income students," Cudd said. "I feel honored to represent the University of Kansas at this event."
In addition to Kansas, the other universities in the alliance are the University of Texas at Austin, University of Central Florida, University of California Riverside, Iowa State, Ohio State, Michigan State, Arizona State, Georgia State, Oregon State and Purdue University.
"We are all going to be sharing our best practices, sharing our innovations and teaching
each other what works and why it works on our campuses, so that we can all lift each other up" Cudd said.
retention rate of freshmen students going into their sophomore year to be 90 percent and the six-year graduation rate to be 70 percent, from its now
Chancellor Bernadette
"I am excited to connect with national leaders on how we can improve access and graduation rates for low-income students."
ANN CUDD
Vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Studies
Gray-Little has focused on improving the University's retention rate, which is now 79.9 percent for freshman-to-sophomore students, according to the University's Office of Institutional Research and Planning, and she acknowledges that there is much room for improvement. She wants the
61. 6 percent.
The University is currently helping low-income students stay in school by creating a more fulfilling first-year experience as a part of Bold Aspirations, implementing a new core curriculum and using MySuccess, which allows instructors to track student performance. For fiscal year 2013, the University had 4,417 students eligible for Pell grants, which are need-based, non-repayable grants for undergraduate students working toward their first degree, said Sara Rosen, senior vice provost for academic affairs. This year, the maximum grant was $5,645.
"We already know we need to compete for as many qualified students as we can compete for," Cudd said. "So we need to compete for low-income students, first-generation students, as well as middle- and high-income students. We already see this as our mission."
Obama has made higher education a primary focus in his final years in office. He has said college education should be a right, not a luxury.
He proposed a government-driven college rating system to be in effect by the 2015 school year. He said the system should let students know the price of attending one college over another, display retention rates and show how much debt the average student incurs.
With this proposal in mind, Obama invited more than 100 college presidents and chancellors to commit to helping low-income students improve access, retention and graduation rates at the White House Summit on Jan. 16. In response, the University Innovations Alliance was created.
"The college rating system I think will especially inspire those institutions who have gotten off of that path, off of that mission to come back to it," Cudd said.
- Edited by Chelsea Mies
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
- Average student debt after graduation: $23,468
- Average cost per year to go to Kansas: $9,222
- Freshmen-to-sophomore retention rate: 79.9 percent, desired: 90 percent
- 6-year graduation rate: 61.6 percent, desired: 70 percent
- According to Senior Vice Provost Sara Rosen
- 4,417 students eligible for Pell grants for 2013 fiscal year
A BETTER BARGAIN FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS: MAKING COLLEGE MORE AFFORDABLE
- Tie financial aid to college performance, starting with publishing new college ratings before the 2015 school year
- Challenge states to fund public colleges based on performance.
- Hold students and colleges receiving student aid responsible for making progress toward a degree.
Promoting Innovation and Competition
- Challenge colleges to offer students a greater range of affordable, high-quality options than they do today.
- Give consumers clear, transparent information on college performance to help them make the decisions that work best for them.
- Encourage innovation by stripping away unnecessary regulations.
- Ensuring that Student Debt Remains Affordable.
- Help ensure borrowers can afford their federal student loan debt by allowing all borrowers to cap their payments at 10 percent of their monthly income
- Reach out to struggling borrowers to ensure that they are aware of the flexible options available to help them to repay their debt.
Major points in Obama's proposal, chart information from The White House
RECYCLE, RECYCLE, RECYCLE, RECYCLE, RECYCLE, RECYCLE
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