BOARD HEARS REPORT ON VALUE OF EDUCATION TO SOCIETY, INDIVIDUAL
Media Contact: Annie Mitchell Phone Number: (601) 432-6493
5/18/2006 (Jackson, Miss ) -
Mississippi could dramatically improve its economy and reduce social welfare and other costs by improving access to higher education, according to a report presented today to the Board of Trustees of Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL). The Board opened its monthly meeting by attending the taping of Mississippi’s Mandate: Why the Investment in Education Pays Off in Mississippi, prepared and presented by the Institute for Higher Education Policy in Washington and sponsored by USA Funds.
The report outlines the economic and social benefits produced by education, not only for the public good, but for the individual. Like other studies, the Mandate indicates that income is significantly higher for those with bachelor’s degrees compared to high school graduates. But the report indicates that increased education can also lead to improved health for the individual, which translates into lower health-care costs for the state. Greater educational attainment can also help the state realize similar savings through reductions in unemployment, crime, welfare, and other critical and costly areas.
Commissioner of Higher Education Dr. Thomas Meredith said that Mississippi’s Mandate will be a valuable tool in encouraging Mississippians to seek higher education, as well as in giving strong evidence for adequate funding for education. “This report validates the expenditures that the state makes for higher education, because it highlights the benefits for society as well as for the individual,” he said. “It confirms what we in higher education have known, that improving the level of education of our citizens is a wise investment, not a cost.”
Among the report’s specific recommendations are creating an entity to promote education, establishing ninth-grade learning academies, increasing state financial aid (especially need-based aid), and encouraging collaboration among education agencies. The full text of Mississippi’s Mandate is available online at http://www.ihep.org/Pubs/PDF/MissMandate051606.pdf.
...Beyond High School: Access and Affordability in Mississippi
Another aspect to increasing the level of educational attainment in Mississippi concerns affordability. Those students who possess the skills and desire to go to college should be able to afford to do so. Affordability and access to higher education were the weakest areas on the Measuring Up 2004 Mississippi state report card. Mississippi received a failing grade in its ability to provide access to higher education for deserving students. As shown in Table 4, Mississippi had one of the highest ratios of college prices to family income in the country. In addition, the state has also failed to provide inexpensively priced alternatives. Indeed, even at the state’s community colleges, families with the lowest income would spend half of their annual income to meet net college prices.
The state is ranked among the lowest in the country in providing financial aid to its students. Figure 6 shows the percentage of Mississippi state grant aid targeted to low- income students as a percentage of federal Pell Grant aid. Compared with the number of Pell Grants provided by the federal government primarily to low-income students, the state has committed little grant assistance for students coming from families with lower earnings. Throughout the decade, the ratio of state grants to Pell Grant awards lingered at around 1 percent, compared with the national median of 22 percent in 2003 (NCPPHE 2004). ...
....Rising tuition rates also hamper students’ ability to pay for education. Similar to other areas in the country, tuition prices for public institutions in Mississippi have been rising consistently over the past 20 years. Resident tuition and fees have increased by 60 percent in constant 2004 dollars, from $2,230 in 1986 to $3,599.
Meanwhile, per capita educational appropriations in the state of Mississippi grew by only 2 percent, from $108 in 1986 to $111 in 2004 in constant dollars (See Figure 7). (PDF, pp. 22-24)....
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....Issues Regarding Retention of Human Capital
Part of the challenge that Mississippi faces is its inability to retain human capital. Currently Mississippi is experiencing loss of human capital among 22- to 29-year- olds due to migration. As evident from the graph below, workers with an education level equivalent to some college and higher prefer to seek employment elsewhere. In contrast, Mississippi is experiencing a net in-migration of younger people with a high school diploma or less (See Figure 8). (PDF, p. 26)
Mississippi could dramatically improve its economy and reduce social welfare and other costs by improving access to higher education, according to a report presented today to the Board of Trustees of Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL). The Board opened its monthly meeting by attending the taping of Mississippi’s Mandate: Why the Investment in Education Pays Off in Mississippi, prepared and presented by the Institute for Higher Education Policy in Washington and sponsored by USA Funds.
The report outlines the economic and social benefits produced by education, not only for the public good, but for the individual. Like other studies, the Mandate indicates that income is significantly higher for those with bachelor’s degrees compared to high school graduates. But the report indicates that increased education can also lead to improved health for the individual, which translates into lower health-care costs for the state. Greater educational attainment can also help the state realize similar savings through reductions in unemployment, crime, welfare, and other critical and costly areas.
....Issues Regarding Retention of Human Capital As evident from the graph below, workers with an education level equivalent to some college and higher prefer to seek employment elsewhere.
"And in the Hattiesburg area particularly, workers with an education level equivalent to a PhD or higher prefer to seek employment elsewhere."
Thought I'd fill in that missing sentence for them . . .
Given the ubiquitous Mississippi community colleges with open admissions throughout the state and the many university campuses with exceedingly low admission requirements and open admissions for CC transfers, it's hard to imagine a state with more "access." In fact, one could argue that too many people in Mississippi are attending college and, thus, are watering down the quality of the experience for others.