This is a summary of Sessions 1 and 2 of the presentations at the Maine Compact for Higher Education's 4th annual Maine Symposium on Higher Education, "Money For College: The Critical Link to Business & Economic Growth," held August 7, 2008 at the University of Southern Maine. The summary was prepared by Sadie Fowler, consultant to the Compact, and edited by Henry Bourgeois. The notes are arranged in the order of presentations and panels at the symposium. In many cases, PowerPoint presentations are available to supplement these notes.
Welcome
Ted Scontras, Executive Vice President, TD Banknorth & Member, Compact Board of Directors
Selma Botman, President, University of Southern Maine
Scontras:
- Member of the accreditation committee of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. While in Istanbul with NEASC, parents were asked why it is important for their child's school to be accredited by a U.S. accrediting board. They said they want their kids to attend higher education in the U.S.
- How do we transfer that value that others have in higher education to our communities here in Maine? That's part of the Compact's mission.
- Increasing higher education attainment increases economic development--the two are deeply related, which is why the Compact has set a goal of 40,000 additional degree holders by 2020.
Botman:
- USM has approximately 10,500 students. 90% of alumni live and work in Maine.
- Public higher education across the country is facing economic challenges; our current and prospective students face these challenges, which will affect how they access higher education.
- Beginning this fall, income from a $1 million scholarship fund (Lisa and Leon Gorman Scholarship for Transfer Students) will be used to help community college students to transfer to USM.
Session 1: Why is money for college important to Maine's businesses and the state's economy?
Matthew Jacobson, President & CEO, Maine & Company
Maine & Company is a privately funded, nonprofit economic development corporation that works to attract businesses to Maine. When a company considers locating or growing to Maine, Maine & Company talks with them to assess how to meet their needs, including workforce needs.
- Challenges: when Maine & Company attracts a business, they have to struggle to get funding to help with training. The Governor's Training Initiative (GTI) and Quality Centers are two valuable resources for businesses that Maine has.
- Opportunities: We have successful models and high student and industry demand for certain programs.
- ASSET (Automotive Student Service Educational Training) program at the community colleges has a 100% placement rate, with plenty of opportunity for growth.
- Central Maine Community College has a 300% placement for one of its technical programs, but they can't expand program because they don't have the money.
We seem to have successful models, and just need more funding. Where are our Legislative priorities?
- Other examples of higher education responding to business needs: entrepreneurship nurturing through business plan competitions (need to increase the awards), USM's new insurance industry focus in the business school to support the 18,000+ jobs in the region; and tourism, which is Maine's largest industry (in terms of employees) and where we are already world class. Why don't we offer degrees to educate Maine people to cater to this industry, and be creative in our approaches; for example, training people at the community colleges to repair the giant cruise ships that come here?
Q: What stage in the process do businesses ask about the education in the workforce?
A: It's the first question. By the time they get to us, they've already looked at taxes, etc.
Q: What advice do you have for educators with students who are not college-ready?
A: Look at programs with high placement rates and let students know they need more than high school.
Q: How do businesses deal with the Maine regulatory process?
A: Businesses leave; the regulatory process here takes a long time compared to other states.
Audience Comment: USM's sports management program is currently one of the fastest-growing majors. The University of Maine is involved with wind research and lots of energy research.
Session 2: Are Maine student financial needs being met?
Lisa Plimpton, director of research at the Mitchell Institute, summarized a report she prepared for the symposium entitled "Financial Need among Maine College Students."
- Who are Maine college students?
- In 2006, over 77,000 Maine residents were college students.
- Maine's number of 1st generation and low-income students is greater than the national average.
- 80% apply for financial aid. 40% of financial aid applicants reported a family income below 40,000; 60% reported a family income below $50,000.
- Financial Need calculation: Cost of attending college, minus expected family contribution, minus financial aid (grants, loans, work-study) equals unmet financial need
- Cost of college
- In the past decade, costs grew faster than financial aid.
- Maine's costs are closer to those of New England institutions, which tend to be relatively high, than to the national average, even though Maine has the lowest income in New England and is lower than the national average.
- As a percentage of family income, for families in the lowest 40%:
- Net cost of a community college is 45% of their annual income (2005-2006)
- Net cost of a public 4-year institution is 54%
- Net cost of a private 4-year institution is 121%
- Expected family contribution (EFC)
- Based on family or student's income and assets, family size, and number of family members in college.
- The system assumes that parents will contribute to the full extent possible, although this is not always true, especially with first-generation college-goers, where parents often assume the student will pay.
- Financial Aid
- Grants
- Make up a little more than 50% of all financial aid.
- Federal loans and federal grants: about 57% of all financial aid.
- 27% of Maine college students receive federal Pell grants.
- Average institutional grants range from about $700/student at community colleges to $14,000 at a private 4-year institution in Maine.
- There are also many private scholarships and employer tuition assistance programs in Maine.
- Maine State Grant Program
- Students with an EFC of up to $7000 are eligible.
- $15.6 million was awarded in 2006-2007.
- An additional $9.7 million granted annually would bring Maine to the New England average for state grant spending as a percentage of state investment in higher education operating expenses (and a little more would be needed to meet the national average).
- Federal subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans
- The cap on the amount a student can borrow in a Stafford loan varies according to the year in college.
- The gap: unmet financial need
- Total unmet financial need for Maine undergrads was $117.4 million in 2003-04.
- Average student debt
- Maine: $22,877 (7th highest of any state); 71.3% of per-capita income
- Private education loans have increased from 6% to 24% of all student borrowing, a tenfold increase in terms of dollars borrowed from ten years before.
- Financial need as a barrier to college
- Low-income students respond to increases in tuition by declining to enroll.
- From 2000-2006, college attendance increased by 16%, but for low-income students, it is declining.
- About 50% of first-generation students and their parents say that money will be the determining factor of whether their student will go to college or not.
- For all students and parents, cost is even more likely to influence the choice of college the student will attend (rather than if they will attend at all).
Audience Comments:
- The amount of money given as scholarships is shockingly small.
- When families receive their financial aid package, it is hard to read and understand.
- It would be interesting to look at possible hidden financial aid, early college and those types of things, and see how that affects a student's decision about college later on.
Q: Are students more likely to say, "I'm not going to go" or "I'll work and pay as I go" once they find out their Expected Family Contribution?
A: We don't have any numbers, just anecdote. Students probably respond in both ways.
Q: Any information on unmet need for pursuing graduate degrees?
A: I don't have a breakdown, although I know it's an expanding issue. I know that graduate students have a hard time finding grants.
Q: Any idea of how much money there is from community support?
A: We do not have hard numbers, but we know there is much activity locally, e.g. Rotary Club scholarships, Dollars for Scholars. And, we know that the Maine Community Foundation administers $2.5 million annually in scholarship aid.
Sessions 3 and 4 | Sessions 5 and 6 | Session 7