Rising tuition prices and student debt loads dominate the debate over the future of higher education in the United States. But a new report from the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education (Penn GSE) finds that to understand the obstacles to making college accessible and affordable, leaders must consider, but look beyond, college sticker prices and state appropriations.
The College Opportunity Risk Assessment is the first state-by-state analytic tool to compare the many intersecting risks to postsecondary educational opportunity: how a state prepares its high school students, how it engages non-traditional college students, how it supports minority students, and the state’s fiscal health and stability.
Researcher Joni Finney, GSE Professor of Practice and director of the Institute for Research on Higher Education, says the U.S. is “woefully unprepared” to meet 21st-century workforce challenges, and every state must make significant changes in how they approach higher education.
The assessment includes a risk ranking for all 50 states, and an examination of where each state is most at risk. A summary of findings and a link to the full report is in the Penn GSE Newsroom.
