A two-day higher-education conference at the University of Virginia will result in a report that organizers hope will echo "A Nation at Risk," the landmark 1983 report that shed light on the nation's failing schools and led to education reform across the U.S.
"We need to write a report over the next couple months that is really 'A Nation at Risk 2.0' but that is about higher education," said Gerald L. Baliles, a former governor of Virginia who is director of U.Va.'s Miller Center of Public Affairs. The center hosted the conference that wrapped up Monday.
The nation's colleges and universities are in crisis, the conference's participants said.
States are dealing with declining tax revenue and are expected to continue slashing higher-education funding. Far too few students are pursuing degrees in the much-needed fields of science, technology, engineering and math. And rising tuition rates have made it more difficult for many families to afford the cost of attendance, participants argued.
The conference's participants included governors, college presidents, chancellors of several states' university systems and numerous other national and state higher-education policymakers, advocates and analysts.
One of the themes of the conference was that universities need to find a way to greatly increase the number of degrees awarded and to boost the number of degrees in technical courses.
Universities, many said, must find ways to operate more efficiently while maintaining and improving quality.
Virginia Tech President Charles Steger said many universities around the country will not be able to get on a sustainable financial footing merely by finding efficiencies. Rather, he said, these schools will have to diversify their revenue streams, relying more on private support, much as U.Va. has done.
Brian McNeill is a staff writer
for The Daily Progress
of Charlottesville.
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