It’s back to school time for learners of all ages. But across the country, Americans are asking hard questions about higher education. Is college worth the cost? Are graduates prepared for the jobs our communities need? And are public colleges and universities sufficiently responsive to the states and people who support them? In Vermont, we are answering these questions not by talking about the value of higher education, but by demonstrating it.
Vermont faces some difficult realities. Employers cannot find enough workers. Our population is aging. Housing shortages constrain communities and businesses. Many families question whether they can afford groceries and gas, let alone college. And changing demographics mean that our colleges themselves must operate differently than they have in the past. For the ÌÇÐÄÉÙÅ®, these aren’t separate problems. Our statewide system gives us the reach to tackle these challenges together.
Consider affordability.
Through 802 Opportunity, in partnership with the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC), Vermont has made community college tuition-free for thousands of Vermonters, and we are seeing the results. Participation among eligible students has increased 44 percent, participation among students receiving federal need-based Pell Grants has increased 28 percent, and, perhaps most importantly, student borrowing has fallen 60 percent. At Vermont State University, the newer Freedom & Unity Scholarship, also administered with VSAC, now makes base tuition free for students from more than half of Vermont families.
These are serious investments in Vermont’s future. Every Vermonter who wants to become a nurse, teacher, technician or small-business owner but believes college is financially out of reach represents potential our state cannot afford to lose.
But making college affordable is only part of the work. We also have to make sure education leads to opportunity in Vermont. That does not mean reducing higher education to job training. The liberal arts remain essential to preparing people to think critically, communicate effectively, adapt to change and participate fully in their communities. But we also have a responsibility to make sure students can see a clear path from their education to opportunity.
Working with our faculty and staff, we are building stronger pathways between the CCV and Vermont State University and connecting them more directly to Vermont employers. BETA Technologies offers one example: CCV students can combine college coursework with hands-on training and paid job shadowing in advanced manufacturing, while Vermont State University’s engineering and aviation programs prepare students for technical careers in the same growing industry.
Our goal is to make this kind of partnership easier to build across Vermont. Rather than asking employers to navigate individual programs or campuses, we are creating a more coordinated statewide approach: using better labor-market information, managing employer relationships across the system, and working with employers early enough to develop programs before workforce shortages become crises.
Our Vermont State University campuses offer another opportunity to think differently about how public higher education can serve Vermont. The state has invested for generations in public college campuses across our rural landscape. Those campuses now have more physical capacity than traditional college enrollment requires. We could treat that simply as a financial problem and spend our time deciding which buildings we can afford to keep or we can ask ourselves what else does Vermont need these public assets to do?
Additionally, not every student’s circumstance is such that they can travel to a campus, live in a dorm or take classes during typical school and business hours. And, not every trade, craft or skill needs to be delivered as an associate or bachelor’s degree. So, we are moving more programs online, offering courses that are self-paced and developing certificate and training programs designed around getting students of all ages and backgrounds the skills they need to enter our workforce empowered and prepared.
The next step is to bring these efforts together. Employers should have a clear way to work with us to build the workforce they need over time. And, our campuses should contribute not only through education, but through housing, economic development and community vitality. The opportunity now is to build this together, around what Vermont needs most.
Our state officials stepped up when we desperately needed their support. We are now stable and growing stronger every year as a result. This allows us to continually adapt to the changing needs of our students and our state. Unlike more traditional colleges and universities, we offer rolling enrollment because we know many of our students need the extra time to weigh the value and practicality of higher education. My message to them is this: we are here for you, you can do this, and when you are ready, we will see you through this journey.
The measure of a public higher education system must ultimately be larger than the health of its institutions. It must include the health of the state it serves.
That is what I mean when I say the ÌÇÐÄÉÙÅ® exists for the benefit of Vermont.