More bang for the buck. (Editor's Note).

SINCE I CAME ON BOARD AT UB, I have been particularly interested in the way that colleges and universities are struggling to address educational needs in "the real world'--and most especially, in the real world of today: one beset by economic turbulence and political uncertainty. I've been watching with interest as public and private four-year IHEs re-craft course offerings and expand distance- and continuing-education offerings, in order to attract students and professionals seeking specific-skills training and education. College and university educators are aware--more than ever before--that a) students need skills, certification, and degrees that they believe will translate directly into improved chances of job procurement, and b) students feel the financial squeeze of higher tuition price tags, reduced availability of grant and scholarship money, and growing educational loan burdens. In other words: They now want more bang for their buck.

Yet, while I am pondering these issues, and the response of public and private four-year institutions to these needs, I am also noting the marketing activity coming out of the community college sector--activity targeted specifically at the education-job connection. Simultaneously, I am, each morning, working my way through the news reports of the four-year-institution "spillover" to the community college level, as many students find themselves shut out of the four-year institutions they expected to attend. Or, as their financial situations put them in the position of looking at community college options with new eyes.

And now I am wondering: Is there a convergence of sorts going on here as the four-year IHEs offer more and more career-oriented courses and programs, while at the same time, a handful of community colleges (in Florida, Utah, and Nevada) move toward the world of traditional four-year education, and become authorized to offer baccalaureate degrees?

"I expect this trend will continue," says George Boggs, president/CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges, "unless the four-year institutions find ways to make it easier for community college graduates to transfer to their institutions." But he adds, "If we continue to go our separate ways, community colleges are going to start looking more like universities." If that's true--and if it's also true that some four-year colleges are starting to act like community colleges (in their career-oriented course offerings and marketing campaigns)--then, Boggs muses, "these are pretty interesting dynamics." Of course, no one is saying that the critical thinking skills developed by a four-year education will not always remain highly valued. Research indicates that a liberal arts education leads to both a better quality of life and better economic well-being, says Boggs. Yet, he states unequivocally, "employment decisions are still based upon specific competencies."

Will we be seeing more and more colleges espouse the value of a liberal arts education while ratcheting up career-oriented marketing pushes in professional ed programs? Will an increasing number of community colleges receive authorization to offer baccalaureate degrees in the next few years? "Workforce education has been a part of the community college mission for a long time," says Boggs, "but it is interesting to see the universities and liberal arts colleges begin to take on this role."

In the end, convergence may not be a bad thing. Then again, some may see it more as a redundancy of effort. The way to forestall that possible end result? Encourage "the interest of university leaders in improving articulation agreements and developing applied baccalaureate degree programs, so that community college students can complete a four-year degree," advises Boggs. As he says this, I'm thinking to myself: Maybe this is a challenge in search of a crusader. Maybe, as they say, the buck stops here.

Katherine Grayson
Editorial Director
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