Higher Ed Utah

Lois Collins, writer at the Deseret News highlights Utah as a mecca for innovation in the coming ten years.

The seedcorn for that innovation is higher education.  Initiatives like USTAR and the Engineering Initiative will directly feed this innovation.  This is why we hear university and college presidents as well as education and business leaders warning state lawmakers of the dangerous balance in higher education.  Budgets have been cut more than they ever have where Utah schools are already has the fewest state dollars per college degree.  It is no surprise, then, that business leaders such as Eric Schmidt (CEO of Google), Lane Beattie (President and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber), Jeff Edwards (President, Economic Development Corporation of Utah), and Mark Bouchard (Director of CB Richard Ellis) have all actively advocated higher education as a critical factor in strengthening and growing Utah’s economic and societal well-being.