Higher Ed Utah

(David DeMille, The Spectrum) — College students from across Utah joined a campaign this week urging state lawmakers to show more support in funding higher education.

The “We Are the 66% Campaign,” named after a Georgetown University study that indicated 66 percent of Utah’s workforce would need post-secondary degrees by 2018, urges legislators to help create a system where students are more likely to succeed. In 2010, only about 35 percent of Utah adults held bachelor degrees and between 10 percent and 15 percent held post-secondary certificates, according to the Utah Student Association, which spearheaded the campaign.

Lawmakers cut higher education 14 percent over the past three years, relying on tuition hikes – an average of between 8 percent and 9 percent ­- to make up for the lack of state funding at a time when schools also had to deal with enrollment increases of more than 20 percent.

“I know everybody’s looking for money, but the real investment, I think, in helping our economy and our society grow in the long run is the system of higher education,” said T.J. Nelson, student body president at Southern Utah University.

The campaign calls for increased funding to ensure Utah’s institutions stay nationally competitive through the retention of world-class professors, researchers and administrators and policies that help align educational attainment with high-demand jobs.

“Students throughout the state work hard to obtain a college education and be a part of Utah’s vibrant economy,” Ali Sadler, a co-director of the campaign, said in a written statement. “We want to express to legislators that by enabling and encouraging more students to enter our institutions and successfully graduate, we prepare Utah for a strong economic future.”

At places like Dixie State College, where students are part of the ongoing effort to achieve university status, there is a real sense that the state needs to be invested in the process, said Mike Sheffield, DSC’s student body president.

“Dixie’s going through a very formative process right now,” he said. “We’re trying to get the buildings, the professors, the housing we need to create that learning environment. (Legislators) need to take the time and put in the effort and energy to help us get there.”

David Smith, a University of Utah student and state coordinator of the 66 percent campaign, said Utah students have been actively working to make education the top priority in the state, with many signing on last year to the Call to Action promoted by Education First, a political action committee dedicated to improving higher education. Students plan to attend the legislative session to chat with state leaders next month and many students are training to prepare for upcoming caucus meetings to expand their political clout, Smith said.

“It’s really students saying we’re part of the movement to make Utah a more competitive place in this global marketplace,” Smith said.

Holly Braithwaite, director of communications at the Utah System of Higher Education, said it was encouraging “that all of these students from throughout the state and all of our colleges and universities have launched this effort.”

Leaders throughout the state have picked 2020 as a goal for 66 percent graduation rates, including the governor’s education excellence commission, Braithwaite said. More…