The challenge for institutions is to help more people achieve higher levels of education and to use resources and funding wisely in the process. The National Center
For those states that do not perform well in increasing the educational level of their population, the results show that the economic outcome will be seriously negative. If current trends continue, the proportion of workers with high school diplomas and college degrees will decrease, and the average personal income of Americans will decline over the next few years.
There are several areas that can assist the universities in their goal of improving the quality of education. One of those that I personally work in is the adult education programs.
It is important to improve the preparation of traditional college-age students, but states can also improve the preparation of adults for continuing their education or training. For example, this can include encouraging adults to complete a high school-level education, usually through a GED, and offering a specialized postsecondary curriculum targeted to those who have not participated in an educational program recently. One example is the program called KYAE, the Kentucky Adult Education program, that works with universities to assist the over one million adults needing an education.
Several pages of examples of ways to increase productivity were outlined in the report. Some of those included: “improving productivity encompassing a range of actions, including conducting system and institutional audits, redesigning courses to introduce more technology, developing incentives and better aligning course offerings with student demand, and shortening time-to-degree from five or six years to three or four." I know that several universities are offering shortened degree completion programs for non-traditional students.
There are no magical cures for all issues related to cost. Every strategy for raising productivity, improving quality, and containing costs should be examined closely, and then adapted to the conditions of particular states or institutions. This report states that "most strategies, including our examples, can have a major impact on educational productivity only if implemented on a large scale, across many institutions or entire states."
Reference
Callan, P., Ewell, P., Finney, J. & Jones, D. (2007). Good policy, good practice. Retrieved October 29, 2011 from http://www.highereducation.org/reports/Policy_Practice/GPGP.pdf
