The Learning Cloud

New Sloan-C report and A-HEC analysis

Sloan-C has just published its third report on the state of online learning, Growing by Degrees:  Online Education in the United States, 2005, and Rob Abel has already provided a cogent summary analysis of the new report. His analysis has the additional benefit of correlating the Sloan-C findings with the findings from A-HEC's first and ongoing study of key success factors in online learning. The Sloan-C reports, A-HEC reports, and Rob Abel's comparative analysis of the latest Sloan-C and A-HEC reports are well worth your attention.

Could there have been an alternative to cutting instructional budgets?

Excerpted below is an article announcing a decision to cut instructional budgets at the University of North Carolina, where I was a professor for over 30 years at UNC-Chapel Hill. Instead of using their considerable investment in IT over the past few years to offer high demand academic programs and courses for online delivery while simultaneously applying the common course redesign strategy to improve learning and reduce direct instructional expenses in high-demand introductory courses -- thus, increasing the teaching capacity of the existing faculty and classroom plant -- the UNC system and institutions appear instead to have decided not to embrace such productivity innovations and now have opted to cut instructional budgets in favor of investing new state resources in other priorities.

UNC to cut spending on courses, faculty advisers
Chapel Hill (The Associated Press), November 14, 2005

The University of North Carolina will cut spending for student instruction by $16.4 million this year despite more state money for many priorities across the 16-campus system, including for building repairs and raises for state employees. At UNC-Chapel Hill, budget cuts this year led to elimination of 46 class offerings. At N.C. State University, 60 of the course sections have been eliminated and science labs will have fewer materials. At N.C. Central University, money for teaching supplies was cut. The fewer course sections and greater class sizes mean that students will struggle to complete their studies within four years, says a report issued this week by the UNC system. "Ironically, unavoidable reductions in advising and faculty contact hours means that many students will have less assistance in monitoring their degree progress at a time when it becomes much more difficult and critical to do so," said the 2005-06 Budget Reductions Report. Read more ...

The ignored role of technology in higher education

Among the state's in which public university tuition may be increasing beyond the reach of less affluent students are Missouri (~$100M cut in public support) and California (attending the University of California is approaching $100K in expenses for a student). It will be interesting to observe whether these and other states attempt to measure or otherwise monitor across institutions and within academic programs the per-student-FTE expense of graduating a student -- or some other measure of unit expense. The debate about the price of higher education would be more meaningful if both unit cost and price (credit-hour tuition and feed) were monitored together. It is unit cost, not unit price, that is a measure of productivity. And it is the well established role of technology in the recent history of remarkable and persistent productivity increases that continues to be ignored in higher education.

Learning Accountability 101

The Association of American Colleges and Universities recently released a major report, Liberal Education Outcomes: A Preliminary Report on Student Achievement in College. The report states in its Preface that, "The central finding of this report is that the most important outcomes of college study -- outcomes widely regarded as key to economic opportunity and democratic citizenship -- have been insufficiently addressed in reliable, cumulative assessments of students' gains from their college studies. For all the value society places on the kinds of learning addressed in this report, we still lack persuasive evidence about how well today's students are actually doing."

The report's researchers gathered solid information to back up the above statement on learning accountability.  For example, here are a few "factoids" extracted from the report to suggest why its authors -- and many policy makers -- believe that higher education is failing learning accountability 101.

• ETS Academic Profile data show 8% of seniors “proficient” at level 3 math, up from 5% as freshmen.
• ACT CAAP math scores show a decline from freshman to senior year.
• ACT CAAP data for science show very small gains from freshman to senior year.
• No proficiency data for the social sciences, humanities, sciences, or arts.
• ETS Academic Profile data show 11% of seniors “proficient” at level 3 in writing. N.B.: The test does not actually require writing. Scores come from a multiple-choice exam.
• No data for oral proficiency.
• ETS Academic Profile data show only 6% of seniors at “proficient” level in critical thinking, 77% “not proficient.”
• ACT CAAP data shows less than one standard deviation gain in critical thinking from freshman to senior year.
• No national data for creative thinking.

Considering the above factoids and the "central finding" quoted above, I was surprised by the report's rejection of standardized tests as a central feature of a solution.  The report rejects a primary emphasis on standardized testing primarily because "competencies such as communication, critical inquiry, teamwork, or ethical reasoning take very different forms in different fields."  Yes, but applying basic mathematical skills to solve a problem concerning familiar personal financial issues, interpreting basic numerical information in visual form, writing a clear analysis of a non-specialized ethical dilemma, and applying a range of other problem solving, interpretation, and communication skills are rather basic.  Indeed, such skills are commonly exercised at the non-major level in the 25-35 courses that, in common at almost all institutions, account for at least 40 percent of all enrollments at any one time.  At this non-major level of study, basic skills can be tested in ways that have little to do with how "competencies differ from field to field." There are already instruments to accomplish this kind of benchmarking -- from ETS, ACT, and others. As with local control of public schools, the freedom of higher education from standardized testing in a few core skill and knowledge domains critical to the national economic and democratic interest has become the tail that is mindlessly wagging the dog -- and compromising higher education's social compact with the public.

Transfer of credit as a point of learning accountability

The excerpted article below on the latest results of the National Survey of Student Engagement describes student "swirling," a primary reason why policy makers have threatened to legislate the transfer of credit among colleges and universities in fairness to students.

Half of Seniors Took Courses Elsewhere Before Enrolling at Current College: Annual survey of student 'engagement' also finds benefits of first-year seminars
By Eric Hoover for the Chronicle of Higher Education, November 11, 2005

Almost half of college seniors took at least one class from another postsecondary institution before enrolling at their current institution. A third of seniors took at least one class at another college after enrolling at the institution from which they planned to earn their degree. Those findings, which have implications for college curricula and transfer policies, are among the major conclusions of the latest National Survey of Student Engagement. In its sixth year, the survey — known as "Nessie," after its initials, NSSE — covered 237,000 freshmen and seniors at 528 four-year colleges and universities. By measuring "engagement" — how involved students are in the material they study and in the learning process itself — the survey's organizers hope to provide a better measure of an institution's quality than that offered by popular rankings like those of U.S. News & World Report. The survey's findings give college administrators comparative standards by which to determine their institutions' effectiveness at helping students learn. NSSE measures five areas of educational performance: the level of academic challenge, active and collaborative learning, interaction among students and faculty members, enriching educational experiences, and a supportive campus. Chronicle subscribers can read more ...

Revenue and costs are not the same

This excerpt from the Chronicle again highlights higher education's focus on increasing revenues at the expense of controlling or reducing costs by using IT to increase academic productivity.  One bright spot in the the report is Chancellor William Kirwan's comments on how the University System of Maryland "negotiated" for increased funding by reducing unit costs -- by increasing the student to faculty ratio, for example.

Colleges Should Seek Innovative Ways to Raise Revenue, Speakers at a Conference Assert
By Karin Fischer for the Chronicle of Higher Education, November 4, 2005

A tough budget environment may lead colleges to develop new and innovative approaches to raising revenue, according to college leaders and higher-education policy makers who gathered here for a conference on Thursday. "A crisis is a terrible thing to waste," said William E. Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland. The invitation-only conference was sponsored by the TIAA-CREF Institute, the research arm of the pension-fund giant. Several speakers said that institutions could seek unconventional sources of financial support, including private-sector partnerships and online-course offerings, but that institutions must also work to reinvigorate a deteriorating relationship between higher education and the public in order to gain greater public-sector support. Creative business strategies and more-aggressive private fund raising are not enough to make up for losses in state financing in recent years, said F. King Alexander, president of Murray State University, in Kentucky. ...

Mr. Kirwan, the Maryland system's chancellor, said colleges could make the case for greater public financing by proving they can be good stewards of public money. The state-college system saved $40-million over a two-year period by increasing faculty teaching loads, negotiating lower energy prices, and consolidating administrative functions, he said. In response, the state legislature raised the system's appropriation by 6 percent this year, and has promised a similar increase next year. Chronicle subscribers can read more ...

The impact of the eroding social compact between higher education and the public

Higher education leaders frequently cite the shrinking share of the tax dollar going directly or indirectly to higher education as the reason for spiraling tuition increases. In contrast, policy makers often cite higher education's unwillingness to contain or reduce unit expenses as a reason for price (tuition) increases. In my opinion, policy makers are correct in that higher education could borrow a page from the productivity book that informs almost every other sector of the service economy. That is, most other service organizations have used technology to redesign services to reduce unit costs while increasing quality and flexibility. Wherever you stand on the price / cost issue, one thing is clear. Students are suffering, and in some states -- Texas, for example -- are not attending college in the numbers consistent with state demographics. A new report from the State Public Interest Research Group's Higher Education Project summarizes the situation quite succinctly.

College Students Faced More than $31 Billion in Unmet Financial Need in 2003-2004

A college education continues to be a great investment for every American. The average college graduate earns more than $1,000,000 more over the course of a career than the average high school graduate. Similarly, a system of affordable higher education benefits states and the federal government. College graduates contribute to a strong civil society by voting and serving the community in higher numbers than non-college graduates. In addition, they contribute to a strong economic base by driving innovation and expanding the tax base. Unfortunately, new data suggests that America’s higher education system falls short of being affordable for millions of students. New data, released by the Department of Education and analyzed by Postsecondary Education OPPORTUNITY, suggests that higher education is unaffordable for millions of Americans. According to Postsecondary Education OPPORTUNITY, American undergraduate college students faced more than $31 billion in unmet financial need in 2003-2004. Unmet need equals the cost of attending college, including tuition and living expenses, minus expected family contribution and financial aid. Students deal with unmet need by working more during the school year and taking out more student loans beyond those included in their financial aid packages. Postsecondary Education OPPORTUNITY, an education public policy think tank in Oskaloosa, Iowa, based its analysis on the 2003-2004 National Postsecondary Student Aid Survey (NPSAS). NPSAS is a nationwide survey conducted by the Department of Education’s National Center on Education Statistics that uses a representative sample of students, weighted to accurately reflect the distribution of students across income levels and institution types. By analyzing the most recent NPSAS data, Postsecondary Education OPPORTUNITY calculated that undergraduate students faced $31,855,470,142 in unmet need in 2003-2004. High levels of unmet need have serious impacts for undergraduate students. According to Access Denied, a 2001 report by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, “unmet need causes students to deviate from full-time, on-campus attendance—the behavior most conducive to academic success.” In addition, the report found that unmet need is related to participation, persistence and completion gaps between students from different economic backgrounds. Read more ...

Charter universities

The article excerpted below provides an interesting update on charter universities, many of which were "chartered" to be performance-oriented, accountable institutions.

Charter University: A New Paradigm
The capitalist model for American academics is overcoming its beginnings as a challenged idea.
By James Martin and James E. Samels for University Business (November 2005)

It has now been nearly 15 years since the first public policy debates emerged surrounding the invention of charter colleges or universities. Few higher ed insiders took these charter proposals seriously when they were first introduced. After all, the only credible organizations that were pushing charters were like-minded, conservative think-tank organizations (Pioneer Institute, Empire Foundation, et al.), as well as a few private businessmen who yearned for an opportunity to run institutions of higher learning "like their businesses." Some observers soon recognized, however, that colleges and universities could be operated in a more businesslike fashion--empowered through fiscal and managerial autonomy and lured by public funding incentives in exchange for increased academic productivity and improved student performance. Read more ...

A good move in Maryland

The article excerpted below represents true progress in improving learning accountability, program accountability, and affordability of access, all in one reasonable step away from the unreasonable tradition of making the transfer of credit between institutions difficult for the student.

UMd., Community Colleges Set Up Transfer Program Updated
Friday, Nov. 4, 2005 (Associated Press)

The University of Maryland and two community colleges plan a pilot program that will guarantee admission to the four-year university for community college students who meet certain academic standards. Under the plan, to be announced Friday, students at Montgomery College and Prince George's Community College who receive at least a 3.2 grade point average and complete other program requirements will be eligible to enroll at the university's College Park or Shady Grove campuses. The Maryland Transfer Advantage Program will begin in the fall of 2006 and be tested for two years. Community college students who qualify will also have access to University of Maryland advisers and tuition discounts on university classes before they finish at PGCC or Montgomery College. Read more ...

Pricing students out of a higher education by failing to control unit costs

The article excerpted below justifies my belief that to reverse spiraling increases in tuition rates, higher education must learn to control its unit expenses. So, like all other sectors of the economy, higher education must learn to use technology to increase productivity.

Higher education costs are in crisis
By Brian C. Greenberg CPA, CCPS Barre / Montpelier Times Argus, November 4, 2005

It is not a question of "if," but rather "when," the middle class will be priced out of access to higher education. The trends are clear: current costs are staggering, causing families and students to take on debt that will burden their financial decisions for years to come. If tuition costs continue to increase at its current pace, the middle class will be shut out of college within a generation. Access to higher education will then revert to pre-World War II status: an institution exclusively for the wealthy. In 1994, students whose families earned more than $100,000 per year represented 15 percent of the campus population. Ten years later, this percentage has risen to almost 33 percent of all students. What does this show? That the presence of students from middle- to lower-income backgrounds are a diminishing on our college campuses. Families with two children who earn at least $100,000 per year are expected to pay for a public university education without receiving any aid. The cost today is $20,000 per year; therefore, the family burden will be approximately $90,000 (including price increases) upon completion of the student's education in four years. If the student chooses to attend graduate school, add at least another $100,000. By the time this student begins work he/she will have more than $200,000 in debt. A second child on the same track adds another $250,000, after adjusting for inflation. If the cost of tuition rises by 7 percent per year, a public university education will double in ten years. Realistically, public tuition is rising at a much faster rate due to the cutback in support from state funding. Corresponding family incomes are not increasing at the same rate. At some point, the burden of all of this tuition debt will result in the tragic realization that students must forego a college education because they simply cannot afford to assume the debt. Read more ...