Transcripts For CSPAN House Education Subcommittee Hearing On Community Colleges HBCUs TCUs And... 20240714

Colleges, black colleges and universities and minorityserving institutions in preparing students for success. Pursuant to committee rules, Opening Statements are limited to the chair and Ranking Member. This is to allow us to hear from witnesses sooner and allow adequate time for questions. I recognize myself now for an opening statement. Examine thel Critical Role of historicallyblack colleges and universities, Tribal Colleges and universities, and Community Colleges in providing lowincome students and students of color with a quality Higher Education. Our first three bipartisan hearings have clearly demonstrated that a College Degree remains the surest path to Financial Stability for americans across the country. This is particularly true for lowincome students and students of color, whose educational and workforce opportunities have historically been limited i enter generational poverty and systemic racism. Studies show students with income and the bottom of distribution can double their chances of moving up the income ladder if they obtain a degree. Releasedfederal data this morning on college and betweenveals a 50 gap low income students and their wealthy peers. We have much work to do. Hbcus, Tribal Colleges and hispanicserving colleges continue to demonstrate their commitment and ability to provide these students with benefits that come with a quality education. The purpose of educating black students because other institutions would not, historically black colleges continue to live up to their mission where black students can thrive. They make up less than 3 of colleges and universities, yet they produce almost 20 of all black graduates. Tribal colleges and universities were developed as part of a political and social movement to regain tribal autonomy and to combat centuries of forced assimilation and destruction of native communities. Today there are 35 accredited tcus serving students from more federally registered tribes. Hispanic educations represent more than three out of five latino students and one quarter of all undergraduate students. Among fouryear institutions, hispanicserving institutions propel low income students to top income brackets at a rate three times, three times that of dominantly white institutions. Hispanicserving institutions also act as cultural hubs for many who returned to work in their own communities. These institutions are effective engines of economic mobility because they meet students where they are, and are dedicated to educating the whole person. And tc use tcus embed in the students honor of history, and american signaling to students that they belong in college. Many other institutions, such as Asian American and Pacific Islander institutions and predominantly black institutions also serve low income students and students of color. These institutions are forced to to bee with less, designated as a minority serving institution, colleges must not only enroll a substantial number of students of color, but must also enroll a substantial number of pell students, and have fewer resources than peer institutions. In my state, the California State University system as a model for how minorityserving institutions can help students overcome barriers to Higher Education. Reflecting the population of the state, more than half of csu students are people of color. One in three students are the first in their family to attend college, and more than half of all students receive pell grants. Community colleges also play a crucial role in providing Higher Education to lowincome students and students of color. These twoyour colleges often provide a local and affordable option for students who are priced out of fouryear institutions. In fact, Community Colleges and roll one and three black students and nearly half of latino, asianamerican, Pacific Islander and first generation students. More than one third of low income students attend Community Colleges. Done acrossrk being minority serving institutions and Community Colleges as colleges is hampered by deeply inadequate funding. Usstemic underfunding of hbc has been documented. The federal government has never fulfilled its obligation to support these schools. Less than half have received a grant for specific programs and the average Community College receives about half the amount of perstudent funding received by public, fouryear colleges. Funding and equity, we must ask, how are these institutions Still Producing such strong results . How is that . As our witnesses will highlight, when we invest in hbcus end Tribal Colleges, spanishserving institutions ,ispanicserving institutions we empower thousands of students each year with the most powerful tool to achieve success, the College Degree. As we honor the 65th anniversary of brown versus the board of education and wrestle with a promise unfulfilled, it becomes evident that, just like our k12 system, we spend more money to educate wealthy College Students and students who are underserved studentslthy college than students who are underserved. Depriving institutions that serve our most vulnerable resources our most vulnerable students of resources widely peers,ailable to wealthy congress has a responsibility to strengthen and invest in institutions promoting economic mobility. We must understand the critical work these institutions are the needs ofess todays students and invest in these initiatives. President barrett, dr. Captaintton dr. Mick i now yield to the Ranking Member for his opening statement. We are here today because we believe every american should have the opportunity to pursue Postsecondary Education. By aow doors are opened College Degree. We understand the importance of making this kind of opportunity achievable for everyone in our country. Higher education can set individuals on the right path to achieve the american dream. While it is not the only pathway to a high quality family sustaining job, it provides many with their opportunity to get a foot in the door for a lifelong career. As a result of economic policies we put in place, the good news is, todays graduates are entering a booming job market. We have over 7 million job openings and 6. 7 million unemployed. So im very proud of the opportunities our Economic Growth will create for the next generation, and believe that if we give students access, those willing to work hard and make good decisions have an excellent opportunity to succeed. That access is a critical piece of the pie. Higher education should be attainableand regardless of circumstance, which is why the government has made it a priority to ensure low income students have the tools they need to prepare for Postsecondary Education and manage the costs associated with earning a degree. As we consider what must be done in reauthorization of the Higher Education act, we have the opportunity to ensure that restructuring our Higher Education system provides all students that access to opportunities that offer pathways to success, both inside and outside the conventional classroom. That could be alternative pathways to a degree, such as offering programs so that students can only take courses. Hey need to do their jobs any of these changes to take place, we must recognize that money is an important part of the conversation, and institutions need to be willing to take responsibility for the outcomes of their students. Stories like one from this weekend, were a billionaire gifted an entire graduating class by paying off their student debt, are great examples of one persons capacity for excellence, but they also illustrate Something Else that is too easily forgotten, that nothing is free and someone always pays the price. This Means Congress and other institutions need to step up the plate, do all that we can respectively to make Higher Education nine investment that Higher Education and investment that doesnt cost more than it reaps. In promoting prosperity through education reform, the prosper act, a comprehensive proposal to hea ine the hga the last congress, republicans promoted and learn programs, increased flexibility in spending and reform of the Workstudy Program to better prepare students for future employment in their chosen fields. Ideas for affordable and accessible Postsecondary Education recognize that for too long, the federal government has complied with a myopic view of what Postsecondary Education is and why people pursue Higher Education. We must recognize Postsecondary Education needs to work for students, not the other way around. This committee should continue to consider these reforms Top Priorities as it discusses changes that could be included in the reauthorization of the hea. We need to strive on both sides of the aisle for new ideas to increase opportunities for all american students, regardless of circumstance, and support their efforts. Without objection, all who wish to submit schemas to the record may do so electron may do so electronically by june 4. Thank you all very much for being here. Ands the sixth president second leader of Xavier University of louisiana, a private Catholic Liberal Arts College and university. 2015 hesidency in received his undergraduate degree in biochemistry from Columbia University and a phd in biochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of technology. President forvice Academic Affairs Student Success and p 16 integration in the university of texas Rio Grande Valley. He has served in a variety of leadership positions including dean of all dean of College Education, sharing a phd from the university of south florida, an emphasis on special education and urban education. Now the longestserving chancellor in the history of virginias Community College hired in 2001. He has let a system through two strategic plans, which aspires to triple the number of credentials colleges put into virginias economy. He holds a masters degree from Eastern Kentucky university, a bachelors degree from Florida Atlantic university and a degree from the State University in new york and farmingdale. A Tribal College and university located in montana after serving as Vice President of Academic Affairs. The doctor is an enrolled member she earned her doctorate in education and educational leadership, masters of education from montana State University and a bachelor of arts in sociology from the university of montana. Welcome to you all. We appreciate all the witnesses for being here and certainly look forward to your testimony. I want to remind you that we have read your written statements and they will appear in full in the hearing record. Pursuant to committee practice, each of you is asked to limit your oral presentation to a fiveminute summary of your written statement. I also wanted to remind you that pursuant to u. S. Code section 2001, it is illegal to falsify any statement or material fact presented to congress or otherwise try to cover up material facts. Before you begin your testimony, police are member to press the please remember to press the button on the microphone in front of you so that it will turn on and we can all hear you. As you begin to speak, the light in front of you will turn green. After four minutes, the light will turn yellow. So you will have one remaining minute. When the light turns red, we will ask you to please wrap up. We will let the entire panel make the presentation before we moved to member questions. When answering a question, please remember to again turn your microphone on. The first to recognize is doctor barrett. Thank you. Subcommittee chairwoman davis, Ranking Member subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to address you. I serve as its sixth president of the university of louisiana. It was founded by katherine drexel. My institution is catholic and also hpcu. The purpose this proration takes place and incorporates all relevant learning needs including Research Experiences and community service. I was asked to testify before the subcommittee today on the institution as an engine of the economic mobility and programs that demonstrate the skills of the institution. Preparing students for careers and reminding you why they are important and created. The tcu was created to provide education. Noted for their contributions, satisfying the code of requirements and definition by the Higher Education act. In my home state of louisiana, according to an Economic Impact study, the employment impact of jobs. 923 million. Lifetime earnings of 9point for billion dollars. It is a regional impact of the institution the value added and impacted 135 million. And implement impact of 1715 jobs. Savior is considered to be one of the best schools in the nation for quality education according to the u. S. News world report. However, as students come close to realizing their dreams of Higher Education, the more expensive these goals become. More than 93 of the graduates qualify for forms of Financial Aid. More than 65 receive federal pell grants. We are grateful for the bipartisan support. And grateful for the katrina loan to help us recover from the disaster. At xavier, we are innovating the program and paying off students for the workforce. A changing workforce. We are launching 14 new high quality programs. And the only Physician Assistance Program in the state of louisiana, Masters Program. We believe that all children deserve Great Teachers. We are also engaging in highly qualified teachers for the primary and secondary schools. The extension of the program of allowing us to meet the evolving needs of students and global competitors. Xavier student academic resource ice provides all students the Foundation Grant has allowed Career Pathways. I am happy that the fiscal year 2020 labors the hhs a appropriation bill includes much needed increase in funding for the hpcu. The hpcu community should be fully funded. Senators doug jones and tim scott and mark walker recently introduced the future act. Bipartisan legislation to extend the funding of title iii for the hpcu. 85 million for stem initiatives until 2021. It is my hope that Congress Passes this bill before funding expires in 2019. I must say to you that the nation is in need of the ability and ingenuity of the students we educate. In companiesosper locally. So continued investment. I want to thank you. My testimony has been submitted. Please review it. Thank you very much. Thank you. Good morning chairwoman davis, Ranking Members. I am Patricia Alberts executive Vice President of Economic Affairs and integration at the university of texas Rio Grande Valley. I am grateful for the opportunity to address you today and i want to especially thank you for giving me the ability to share some of the wonderful work happening at the university of texas Rio Grande Valley. We are 120 miles along the Us Mexico Border all the way from brownsville to the rio grande city. The fall 2010 enrollment was over 20,000 students. We graduate over 5000 students each year. 87 of the students are hispanic. 59 are firstgeneration. 76 of all undergraduate students receive some form of Financial Aid. 81 of undergraduate students receiving Financial Aid are pell grant eligible. Most and partly students are committed to their education and to giving back to the communities. The work we do is guided by five priorities with Student Success at its core. We ensure Student Success by providing Educational Opportunities and engaging in research that impacts the Rio Grande Valley and beyond. And expanding healthcare and medical education, which is essential given that we are medically Underserved Community with some of the highest rates of diabetes in the nation. Collaborated with our community as True Partners in our work. The tuition is capped at 12 credit hours which means that students do not pay for any courses above the 12 credit hours. Not only are they graduating in a timely a timely manner but they are doing so with less debt. Our program example faiz our commitment to ensure students graduate in four years. As part of the program, you can take place in targeted Career Development opportunities, high impact practices, meet with mentors on a regular basis and complete 15 hours on a semester for 30 hours and a graduate a year. Getting them graduated is not sufficient. We need to make sure they enter viable careers that are addressing community needs. To do so, we work in tandem with Employers Network for systems and communities to ensure current and future Workforce Needs are met. First we believe teaching is the foundation of all professions. Therefore we have a responsibility to prepare teachers to understand not just content but also the real world environments. We strive to make sure the faculty as a representative of the student population because it is important for our students to see individuals that look like them and sound like them in a variety of positions. And we have benefited from federal funding to support initiatives that attract under represented faculty and help with that. Had a we work with stakeholders to ensure we have the right programs and opportunities for our students . We have representatives on Economic Development centers on the Chamber Boards throughout the valley. Recently at the request of our counties, we conducted an analysis and we expect it to grow in the county and we are aligning Education Programs to meet the workforce need. We systematically bring stakeholders together to share cultural perspectives, challenges and opportunities. And to the process, communities are empowered to provide input into policies and initiatives. We offer opportunities for k12 learners to take part in summer camp to provide hightech jobs and High School Students opportunities to partner with faculties and research endeavors. We offer support to local industries. The center for advanced radio astronomy and stargazer both support the development of future leaders in space expiration. Commercial space industry related Technology Development which is especially important now that spacex has moved into the rtd. It is not just the stem fields we focus on. The college of fine arts as a relationship with the rio grande state center, whereby art students are part of the rehabilitation. When the process of launching the program and Clinical Psychology has a focus on Hispanic Mental Health and just one of many other programs we are launching. In collaboration with nonprofits, we support entrepreneurial activity innovations through the regional, commercial Innovation Center and core teams program. The schools medicine continues its mission to close gaps in healthcare and expand Education Opportunities for students. The south texas day obesity and obesity institute, and the alzheimers center are engaged in research to address Health Disparities in the region. In closing, i want to point out that hsis provide hispanics the greatest access to College Education. They represent over 50 of all Higher Education institutions but yet serve 66 of hispanic undergraduates. In 2016, hsis awarded 56 of all degrees to hispanic students and are increasing educational access and success to the nations hispanic. Thank you for this opportunity to share the work being undertaken and i stand ready to work with you and ensuring that all students are ready for success. Thank you. Members of the committee, good morning. The fact that i am sitting here before you today is positive that Community Colleges are engines of economic opportunity. I am a Community College graduate. I was the first in my family to attend college. Truth said, i was disinterested in high school. And if it were not for my mothers persistence, i would have never even considered going to a Community College. But i am of the virginia Community College system. We operate 23 colleges across 40 campuses. I am also a founding board member of a group called rebuilding americas middle classed. A coalition of more than 100 Community Colleges focused on advancing postsecondary access and affordability. What colleges were created to do is what no one else would do. Respond to virginias unmet needs and Higher Education and Workforce Development. Cost and convenience are the two biggest reasons why students choose to attend a Community College. Open access. We give everyone a chance. For many, we offer a second chance. For those with limited needs demanding responsibilities, difficult schedules, we offer what might be there only chance. One example where location makes a big differences rural virginia. Rural virginia barely trails the rest of the state with High School Graduation, college. There we have to convince families who have never before needed anything beyond high school. In some cases, beyond 6th grade, to get a good job. Our initiative tenure goals include cutting and half the areas High School Dropout rate and doubling the College Credential completion rate. We are pursuing that through student coaching practices and helping more students finish shortterm pathways that lead to employment. We also serve a huge number of students that begin at the Community College with the aspirations to eventually transfer to a university and complete a bachelors degree. And virginia, our tuition and fees are approximately one third the comparable cost at a public university. But let me be very clear. It is rare for a Community College student to complete an Associates Degree in two years. And much of that has to do with lifes circumstances of those we serve. Simply stated, our students today are older, and more poor. More likely to be first generation, just like i was. And they are more likely to attend class parttime, not fulltime for working a full time job or multiple parttime jobs. We also have to help more adult students earn postsecondary credentials. These things did not exist before. The opportunities are for families with standing wages, healthcare, regular schedules and paid time off. They dont require a bachelors degree but do require skills that we offer and our short term format. We call our shortterm training program, fastforward. It is our Fastest Growing segment. These programs are more affordable and more realistic for adults. The schedules work for them and most and partly, the programs fill critical business needs. Nearly three hours pardon me, three years, the college has put more than 13,000 high demand credentials into the virginia economy. Those credentials are business verified and high demand and aimed directly at the employer challenge of finding trained and skilled employees. The ability to use pell grants for these shortterm programs would be transformative. You could serve so many more students unleashing an incredible engine of economic mobility. Our typical fast forwards would have to come up with about 1000 outofpocket on day one. Survey after survey after survey confirms that the amount come 1000, is simply out of reach for too Many American families. This eligibility would make all the difference. Pell grants, for them to be extended to those students, i would suggest you do with a solid system of accountability just like we established in virginia. The same reason the federal government invest in those pursuing traditional academic degrees, we should invest in those pursuing highquality stackable post secondary workforce credentials and boost americas Community Colleges with an even more powerful engine of economic mobility. Thank you. Thank you. Madam chair and distinguished members of the sub committee, i am an enrolled member of the board of directors as the American Indian Higher Education consortium and i am honored to be here with you today. Tribal colleges are mission focused institutions. Tribal colleges and universities, economic mobility means securing individual American Indians for success as well as strengthening and sustaining the tribe tribal communities, plans, linkages and cultures. It was established for two reasons like all tcs. One, the near complete failure of the u. S. Higher Education System to address the needs of or even include American Indians and alaska natives. And two, to preserve our culture, language and sovereignty. Located and some of the most impoverished, remote and beautiful areas of the nation, Tribal Colleges have grown from one institution in 1968, to 37 today, operating 75 campuses and six states. We serve 130,000 students and Community Members each year. And more than 230 federally recognized tribes. My home state of montana has seven Tribal Colleges and about half of all American Indians enrolled in Higher Education in montana and the Tribal College. Tribal colleges are accredited institutions for the federal government. All Tribal Colleges offer Associates Degrees and offer bachelors degrees five offer masters degrees. All taught from a foundation graduated grounded in the resilient worldviews. Today, we are facilitating Economic Growth and sustainability. Over the past 45 years, we have developed solid workforce programs. We offer bachelors reason forest management, hydrology, wildlife, fisheries, education, nursing and tribal governments. We are aggressively working to sustain our tribal languages because language, culture and community are essential to students. We developed the Spanish Language teacher a Partnership Program which includes a year long immersion into the language. We focus on the adult because they are essential to teaching the language. For us, the situation is critical. A few years ago, the number of speakers fell, to 18. Our goal is to educate 40 teachers who will give our children a clear vision of the world and set them on a good path. The program is also passed to economic mobility. In the first two years, every student that completed the program was hired. This program demonstrates a synergistic dual nature of economic mobility and native people. Academic success is important. Equally important to us is the strength of community and culture. These missions are inseparable. We cannot fail at either without putting the other at risk. The more obvious contributors to the economic mobility is the availability of jobs. Through a Multiyear Partnership with that apartment of energy, and four other tcus is establishing advanced engineering skills to operate digital manufacturing equipment. They partnered with the United States air force and the college for the protigi program to help us create the workforce and develop Economic Opportunities to that program. As new jobs are created, Tribal Colleges will educate students to fill those positions. One of the ways we have created job creation is we need a pipeline of skilled workers. Because a High School Dropout rates are too high and many students enrolling are unprepared for college stem courses. We develop dual credit. If that was not enough. So we recently opened a stem academy for high school for juniors and seniors. And students take classes at their own high school in the morning and they come in the afternoon to complete the science and math courses. And then they are ready to enter stem programs and have doorways open for opportunities that they might not have had before. The academy is already in its second year of existence demonstrating success. Through strategies like this, Tribal Colleges are transforming native america and Indian Country one student at a time. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you all for helping us by being within the time limits. We appreciate it. If i could, under committee rule, moved to questioning. I will be followed by the Ranking Member and then we will alternate between the parties. If i could start with you, doctor you spend more than two decades working with tribal communities in Higher Education in montana and in my home state of california. And i know that includes working with adults who are trying to finish their ged and with programs to improve college access. I wonder if you could just share with us a little more on a personal level of how your experience working in different facets of Higher Education and different tribal communities influence your approach to your role. What really mattered . Thank you madam chair. Really mattered is opportunity and assisting students to believe that they can in fact accomplish anything that they set their minds to. We know through recent research and studies, that only recently, has there been Research Done in the area that we know where selfefficacy is a key and whether students will be successful. More than the gpa or High School Graduation or entrance exams. If the student is committed and believes that they can accomplish their goal with support, they can. We also know that who you are in our case, it is tribal identity, is also key to having students be successful in college. And high school and in the workforce. We know that the base connection at whatever level that is, the skills, that creates what we call resiliency and protective factors that help students to navigate through susan davis difficult times. And is that come from individuals, teachers or professors or are there Community Members to help contribute to that as well . It comes from all of those. Thank you very much. As we know, universities are cultural hubs and they are centers for the community as well. And people want to be there. They want to experience the university and the community study. I know that is true Patricia Alvarez mchatton for csu. I wonder how the university of texas Rio Grande Valley serves the local community and is included in efforts to identify and address the demand for an educated workforce. How do they find a way to have a meaningful impact on that process . Thank you. We have a variety of instances in which we strive to bring the community into our environments. One of the things we have done is we have tried to change the environment to become a Family Friendly environment. That means families feel comfortable coming on to the campus and spending time and engage in conversation. And important initiatives we have done as a result of funding is to provide culturally responsible development for the faculty in tandem with Community Members. And together, they redesign in order to utilize the culture and facets of the community as into the community. In addition, Community Engagement and Economic Development center also has opportunities for the community to come together and have conversations. The outreach we do with the economic develop meant centers in which we have individuals participate in those types of things also provide Important Information for us to think about, what are the programs we should be offering. It sounds like what you are also doing is sustaining the effort with the community which i think is really important and always looking for ways to do that. Sometimes, people burn out. How do you keep them engaged . I have to tell you, what we find in our community is that there is so much strength and commitment to our students and to the education because they know what a difference that will make. It is not just for the individual but for the family and for the region. They do willingly. It is absolutely amazing. One example is, we have a common area. We had a group of Community Organization individuals that came in completely built a brandnew garden in that area. So we find opportunities for them to come and take part. Thank you very much. I want to announce the Ranking Member. Thank you doctor. I am interested in your comments in regards to expending extending the pell grants for workforce programs. Programs must be at least 600 hours in length and need to be taught over a span of 50 weeks. You mentioned fastforward. How many weeks do most of them last. . Thank you for the question. Typically six weeks. Some longer. Some less. Completion rates of 90 . Job placement rates looking back, we can see earnings increasing anywhere from 20 50 . 20 of the students we put through these programs in the last three years, before they came to us, were on public assistance. Now they are not. These are shortterm opportunities that lead to jobs that employers are screaming about. Welding, Pharmacy Technician they require certifications and licenses. What would you recommend as we consider changes to the policy . How many hours do you recommend for minimum time eligibility requirements . Six weeks, 450 hours. Thank you. I would like to learn a little more about your student academic success. What types of Career Pathways have you created . First of all, we have educated more africanamericans than any other university in the country that go on to become mds or Doctoral Programs and advanced science. We are also have social services, teaching professions as well. Very often, students coming into history or english likewise chemists become attorneys. We are also speaking lloyd k. Smucker with the chamber of commerce as to other data science for example. So leading to a better transition of jobs . Yes. We also know that many forms of many jobs will be emerging in the next 510 years. And we can fully envision. To be flexible and be able to form careers. We are in a changing workforce. How are you integrating that curriculum into the dual Enrollment Programs . Some students we have summer programs long standing in Language Arts which brings a number of students some come to the university. Many go to other colleges. That has been part of the mission. Are you finding some of those programs help students to make choices that will lead to careers they are in . We want to capture the imagination of young people early in their lives. And catch their passion as well. So that they one of the struggles for our population as well as understanding that there is a pathway to Higher Education. We mark a. Takano have to show them the pathways that are possible and we are engaged in doing that. Thank you. Thank you, chairwoman for imposing this. A report by harvard economists found that the income and economic mobility of low income students increases when they attend minority serving institutions. Providing proper resources and funding to msis is critical to ensuring success and income income mobility for low income students. One notes that quote during my time i was finally in a space one student attends Irvine Valley College in california and notes that quote during my time i was finally in a space where i saw others that look like me, others who understood me and really got to raise my identity. The other letters from a student attending college in des moines who wrote the program has shown me that i am not alone on this journey and i refuse to believe in the saying that quote college is not for everyone because i proved to myself that was possible. This reinforces the Critical Role that minorities they have when they have a sense of belonging. What i would ask is that these letters be edited to reflect that. My first question. Dr. , why is it important to have Student Support services that have a cultural lens to them . As a latina myself who did not have a teacher who looked like me or talked like me, i recognized how important it is to have someone that can serve as a mentor that can understand the Cultural Heritage and ideals and values that i believe in. I think part of what we need to ensure is to have opportunities to have students see people who look like them, as youve read from one of the students that you learned, but more importantly think about how does culture heritage, how does that serve as an entrie into content . How does language or being bilingual or trilingual benefit the axis of education . There are a lot of items and opportunities that serve to support students in a way that other institutions may not. Both mentioned the experiences theyve had because of that program. How critical is it ensuring retention and College Completion . I think they are essential. What we have found is that a strong familial role and the way that we understand the importance of community, we need to attend to that. Part of it informs the way that our students take courses. We need to understand that students get that with working, supporting part of the family, taking care of other siblings and those types of things. We need to develop programs that attend to that for students, and ensure that we provide them those opportunities. I know that over 90 of students self identify as latino and the campuses committed to providing opportunities that are specific. As the Vice President and president responsible for citizen what does it mean to provide support to those students . The first thing is we need to demonstrate from the administration to the staff that all of us are together to make sure students are successful. We need to think about things like employment. We know if they are employed on campus they are more likely to stay and finish the program. We need to provide advisors that will engage with them and have the necessary skills to understand their role especially for those students in the middle. There is a group of students that faculties connect with on a daily basis that are instrumental. We have a variety of different programs and opportunities to make sure we are addressing students from multiple points. My time has run out and i yield back mdm. Chair. Thanks for everybody being here in the committee has been working together to try to figure out how do we reach out to more people. We know there are more job skills than people with skills to fill them and thats the answer to the income issues that we need to address as a nation. We kind of grew up in the model where everyone went to college or went to work. Thats the period where i lived and if you didnt go to college you could make a middleclass income and i had a professor say that if this is going to be a low educational level of payment required, Everything Else is going to move to high skills and a lot of the low skills get automated. Its not like they are coming back and having massive plans. Organizing what can be routinely done but what that has done is open up a tremendous opportunity for people who can operate machinery. It doesnt take a four year degree to do so and i know its important to bring people in it. My concern is, dr. Dennis you talk about it being in college and having summers off, but its not a reality because maybe their skills are no longer did they have skills, theres tremendous opportunity. We are very similar from kentucky. Then we try to serve more of the rural area, and its kind of a challenge of the urban rule. They are trying to add one to kentucky because a lot of times the factories arent there. I glenn dubois mean these People Program machines. How do you deal with the urban rule that we also have as well in kentucky . Thank you for the questions. There are adults in rural and urban kentucky. They are living from paycheck to paycheck. The entire household is living from paycheck to paycheck. 40 of the households are one emergency away from being under financial duress. Even though they are working many of them hate their job or want to make more money or both. When you look at the traditional academic menu of a university or Community College what they see as an appropriate because its the for your pathway. They cant give you four years. They have rents, car payments, kids. They could maybe give you 26 weeks because they just got laid off and thats a long unemployment lasts. What can we offer in 26 weeks . Perhaps they can if we offer it right, and we do know, your comments touched on it, that there are good jobs out there that remain unfilled. That do not they do not require a bachelors degree but do require something beyond a High School Diploma. 12th grade is no longer the finish line my friends. You dont need a bachelors degree either. We have in virginia to a much more sincere interest in helping this goal. There are more of them and if you are paying attention to the birth rate theres going to be fewer than fewer than fewer 18 yearolds because many more 25 45yearolds need our help so we have dividend to do more to help and they are rolling in our short term Training Programs because they want to have a better life but dont necessarily want a degree on their wall but they want a better w2. We are starting to see whats next . Perhaps now that i have college benefits i might just come back and start working on that. They seem to be working very very well in virginia and quite frankly weve had some help from the state to lower the entrylevel price. 4000 dollars is way beyond reason. 1000 according to my testimony and research is still a barrier. My time is expired. Lori trahan i appreciate it and i yield back. Thank you. Miss mchatton . That came faster than i thought, i apologize. Thank you so much all of you for being with us here today. This testimony is so helpful. I grew up with a working class family in lowell massachusetts and have been in Public Schools my whole life. I was the first person in my household to graduate from college. In massachusetts we are fortunate to have some of the best Public Schools and institutions in the country but a highquality College Degree remains far out of reach to students, especially students of color and low income. These are students who often work two jobs, they missed classes to take care of loved ones, and theres a number of Community Colleges. They educate and support the student population in these Community Colleges offer flexible class schedules so students can come and learn at a lower cost. Unlike certain schools that pretty proportion of students they reject, Immunity College takes pride in educating 100 of College Students. Because Community Colleges serve a higher share of underrepresented students yet receive a lower share of resources to do so, im wondering if you have any recommendations on how the federal government could step in to address systemic barriers to equal opportunity and ensure that Community Colleges are equipped to be engines of economic mobility. Thank you for the question. I reckon i started my teaching career at north shore Community College and message massachusetts. A neighbor of yours. Very good question. Our students, unlike our experiences, they are facing tremendous life difficulties. Previous testimony heard about some of those insecurities around food housing and legal problems, financial problems and it almost seems insurmountable. What can we do . Students dont need academic advisors, they need social workers. Life coaches. Our students dont speak college. They dont know how to navigate college. Think of a navigator that works for us. We need to get you College Ready by day one. When a student shows up on august 10 and we are starting classes two weeks later thats a challenge. The next challenge is that if we can help the student complete the first five attended courses their chances of success really sore. Five out of five. Three out of five four and five cut it in half. Three out of five do it again. Less, youre wasting time and money. We are dealing with the students that have the most difficult life circumstances and are simply funded at the lowest level. Its become like the Higher Education emergency room but we have to serve our students with essentially a parttime workforce. I dont know of a hospital in the country that would operate with parttime nurses. We do need help. I appreciate that, especially the coaching and Services Required to keep people on the path to graduation and success. Some students at Community Colleges plan to transfer when they are admitted to a four year institution, or they continue after receiving their Associates Degree, but they are faced with setbacks whether its courses or credits that dont transfer easily. Im wondering if you have any glenn dubois recommendations on what we can do to take the friction out of the system and make it easier for students to continue their education. I direct the question to the chancellor but if anyone would like to comment. I think one of the Things Congress can do is simply to require every state to have a guaranteed transfer apparatus among Community College and public universities. Thats a start. We have that in virginia. They work but the problem that we are having is that students typically get there but need to spend an extra semester because not everything counts. Time is the enemy and it also adds extra financial burden. We are working out the kinks but at the minimum i think congress should require that public systems have guaranteed articulation, agreements and alignments. Did anyone else want to comment . Reynold verret we received we have articulation agreements to make them effective what we do is students with the pathway they have to take and what courses they need to take their becoming a psychology major. Or aspiring to pharmacy, take the right chemistry courses. It helps us understand and waste less time. Also, that they can be part of the community before they finish their degree as well. Mr. Klein . Thank you madam chair. And glad to be here even if he is from massachusetts. I went to college in new england and he was from lola and im from boston,. Chancellor, your roots are strong when it comes to Higher Education. You have a great experience up there in massachusetts. I want to praise the work of you and your team and the virginia Community College system. Youve done revolutionary work and really made virginia one of the standout programs when it comes to Community Colleges. The flexibility that is provided to your institution to be able to meet the needs of the public even in rural areas like mine has been fantastic. The innovation going on to decentralize, so you allow your institutions to meet the needs of your communities, so virginia western is Meeting Needs that may not be happening. Lancaster focused on near the homestead, so you may have Golf Course Management courses or dining and catering courses. Its a fantastic balance and you are providing that bridge where in one of us to virginia a student at the high school can make can take courses at deveney and hvac maintenance and repair. The companies that have found bonavista and located those manufacturing operations provided materials to those courses, to those students to work on building these machines. Then when they graduate they have a job waiting for them. They in rural virginia raise their family and reinvigorate the School System in the community. A fantastic cooperative effort. Breaking down transfer barriers between high school and Community Colleges, i think virginia has worked very hard to do. We worked to staff Branch Campuses that are satellite entities in places where they may not have a lot of population. Now we moving into online colleges to get institutions to develop agreements to put a lot of courses online to reach people who have different kinds of schedules. All of this innovation is happening in virginia and your leadership is to be commended. The one thing i noticed about your testimony, and i want to repeat it, you mentioned the typical graduate leaves virginia public universities with nearly 30,000 on average correct . In the paragraph prior, if you take your first two years at a Community College to get your Associates Degree, transfer to a fouryear institution, finish your bachelors degree in two years, you save more than 50,000 on the price of that messed masters. That is correct. And everything works perfectly. I know, in rare circumstances. But you are providing that solution. Weve been sitting here asking how do we bring down the cost of College Education . You are providing the solution. When im confronted with parents who get into Virginia Tech Engineering Program because the rate is like 10 or 12 , amazingly low, im able to provide them with an alternative. Northwestern has the same courses that you would take 50 miles away. Youre going to be able to save the money and transfer to tech. Enjoy those last few years and then finish with a Tech Engineering degree which is second to none. I am thrilled with what you are doing. I used up all my time praising you but i do want to thank you for all of the work and for being here today. If you want to respond to that you are more than welcome. We are glad youre here and we miss you in the state legislature. Im really from brooklyn. Not massachusetts. But in virginia we can guarantee that any father or mother that there choking graduate from Virginia Tech or Virginia University if they enroll in Community College, graduate from Community College. It does work. It has some kinks but it does work. You can look for ways to leverage the Community Colleges and will be saving taxpayers a lot of money. Question for you. I know you cant speak as a representative of all Community Colleges but a lot of the challenges that weve had with Community Colleges, they do a great job with many students transfer. In texas at least the students do better than the students that started at fouryear universities which is a great thing but Community Colleges will be set by many challenges. Developmental education is the graveyard of Higher Education. Their completion rate, in texas at least the completion rates were lower than a lot of High School Graduation rates. Part of my concern is that if someone makes their Decision Just based on cost, in other words going to the cheapest place, they may not necessarily have the best chance of finishing off. What are Community Colleges doing with articulation agreements before universities to make sure folks can transfer with Developmental Education with all of these challenges . Thank you for the question. If you look around the nation increasing you will find more and more Community Colleges moving away from Developmental Education because often it is a bridge nowhere. Instead, tennessee is there, florida is already there. Instead of putting students in College Courses first semester with corequisite help along the way, it is difficult work but the research that im looking at now is promising. Move away from Developmental Education, placement with help that they need, and i would also add that when students come to us, they need someone that can help them on day one. Navigate, get ready, get Financial Aid, get textbooks and materials, and then because they have this stuff down they need someone to just believe in them and get to the first five courses. If we can do that we will help a lot of students. Dr. Mchatton i had a question for you. In the legislature we spent a lot of time trying to get in medical school, where my wife wife graduated. Its an anchor university for an area that is populated by millions of people but in many ways have been ignored in terms ways had been ignored in terms of Educational Resources for decades, so we also made strong pushes for more Doctoral Programs, for example. Can you tell me because i think it is so meaningful to an area that is overwhelmingly latino, the progress on all these fronts. A number of Doctoral Programs, graduate programs, so forth. We put in graduate programs in sustainable agriculture, teacher applicable sciences, statistics. We have several on big data, data analytics. Biomedicaleveral graduate programs, bioethics. What we are trying to do is assess the needs in the region and we find that health care, the stem fields, and hospitality we also have a brandnew program in hospitality and tourism are all fields that are very important in that region, so those are the programs we have engaged in, trying to develop these new how about the Graduation Rate . Probably a dozen years ago at ut san antonio, the sixyear Graduation Rate was only 32 . Only 32 of people had graduated after six years. Where are we on that front . We just graduated our first class. We have only been in business or operation for four years. We dont have the data back yet. To start off with at least a 30 foryear Graduation Rate, but clearly, our goal is to do much more than that and some of the programs we have in place, the cap on tuition, the promise programs, those types of things are all things that are helping us to try to get students through the pipeline in a much more meaningful and timely manner. Thank you. I yield back. Thank you. We now turn to our chair, ranking chair of education and. Abor, dr. Virginia foxx thank you, madam chair, and i want to thank our witnesses for being here today. Dr. Dubois, you talked about the fast forward Funding Program for who complete the class and credential and that it is designed only to pay after the students complete. I assume the legislature set it up this way. Why was it designed this way and how has that accountability metric be received by Community College leaders . Thank you for the question. We actually closed the funding formula that way to the state legislature. Most funding formulas, if not all of them, are on the basis of enrollment. We thought it would be much more attractive to say we are proposing a funding formula that we will receive funds on completion, and i think it was irresistible. In fact, in the legislature, we only got two no votes. So it went through. Why did we propose it that way . We knew by research when we were doing these things when students had to pay a lot of money to get in, we knew their completion rates were north of 90 . Why is that . Its not a fouryear pathway. It is six weeks or eight weeks or maybe 16 weeks. We knew we had a good track record. Why not . Propose it. There is payforperformance. Our former governor had the first pay for performance. It was different for our college leaders. We had to in fact, payments in virginia comes in two forms. Complete the program and the state gives us an installment of funds, and then when the student gets the certificate or license we get the second installment. That caused leaders to develop relationships that we didnt have before like with the department of motor vehicles. We dont give the cdl test, they do. We needed to align these data relationships so that we can certify that the student completed the program and then got the license or certification. It took some changes on our part. Are there some complaints . Sure. For the most part it is working. The legislature has incrementally increased funding for the Program Every year for the last three years. We still run out of money. That is how huge the demand is. If i might give an illustration just to drive home the fact dr. Foxx i only have two minutes left and i need to ask some other questions. Im happy for you to send that to me. What led you to get those dual Enrollment Programs off the ground and have you seen an uptick as a result . What are your outcomes from students who take dual enrollment . Our mission our connection is a longstanding mission for us. Theyre going to college, if they come to xavier or not, is to us success as long as they go , to college. Foxx no one has mentioned this, but the Research Shows students who take one dual enrollment course are three times more likely to graduate and others have not emphasized that very much but this is an area i have a great deal of interest in. Working on dual enrollment because we knew it was so successful. I have one more comment. I have to take exception to your suggestions that the federal government is to have articulation agreements. I really dont see, nowhere is the word education in the constitution. We ought not to be involved in education at all. To involve us more by telling the state to do something they are already doing, youve articulated that yourself. I dont understand why the leadership in the states dont understand what you understand. Time is more valuable than money. You can always replace money but you cannot replace time. Requiring students going to a program to repeat courses is irresponsible as far as the Educational Institution and the citizens should be demanding that this should not be allowed. Thank you all again very much. I yield back. Thank you very much. To our witnesses. Madam chair thank you very much , for this series of hearing on these issues i hope will lead robust Higher Education act reauthorization but onticularly todays hearing minority serving institutions is important to me. I, as chair of the other education subcommittee, it broke my heart. Some of the failures of programs under the bureau of education for early childhood. Today your testimony gives me , some hope. Your testimony states that your college led the nation in preparing a graduating native American Nurses with more than 90 of the graduates certified as registered nurses and learn working in local communities. You also testify that for Lakota College and the Nursing Program, none were employed to work on the pine ridge reservation. Of the 70 nurses working, 80 were olc graduates. Congratulations. What can small Community Colleges like the one that i have in my district, what can they learn with Health Workforce shortages . Thank you for that question. Part of what we do really well in the Nursing Program is create culturally Competent Health care. We are caring for our own and youve heard that our communities value, and one of their primary motivators is the opportunity to give back to the community. I think the Nursing Program exemplifies that. Particularly in the Nursing Program they have high stress and have clinical requirements as well. We provide Wraparound Services as well. We have early Alert Systems and if students are beginning to show stress for, it looks like they might be faltering. The early alert system is accessible from our custodial staff to me. If we see a student missing a class, we have an Electronic System where an actual person goes to find this individual and make sure everything is ok, and if there are issues, we connect them to services and resources. We know that because nursing is the kind of demanding program it is, it is important to have preschool Services Available for women and young men who are primary caregivers to their children. I think overall the big thing is culturally confident and culturally congruent care. You have provided a ray of light. It is possible to break this chain in native american schools. I am encouraged. My time is up so i will submit other questions for the other witnesses. Congratulations. That is not a word i would use, it is a small step. I hope thats the case but i hope the program has other cases like it, mariana and we have a huge workforce investment. Thank you very much for todays hearing and i yield back. Thank you, madam chair. Thanks to the panel for being here. Every american deserves the chance regardless of the circumstances. To seek Postsecondary Education. Ive seen how Tribal Colleges and universities are providing students with the education that they need for future employment of their chosen professions. Im proud to say in my district we have the university in lawrence, kansas dedicating to building the leadership in providing wellrounded extracurricular and education opportunity. If you want to speak with several of the students, it was clear that students desire to remain local after graduation to serve their tribes and communities. To that end it becomes essential for Tribal College and universities to develop Career Pathways for students by expanding partnerships between hbcus and local employers. In your testimony you mentioned that the Tribal College has developed a strong model for Workforce Development offering education and Development Programs responsive to local employer needs. Can you explain the partnership between your college and the local lawyers . Speaking specifically to how it benefited your students post graduation. First of all we work with tribal Economic Development and organization, and so they do Economic Development studies once every five years and gather surveys of memberships as well as employers and tribal entities in the communities what the projected employment needs are and what areas people are interested in looking for work in. We also partner with our county job counsel. We are connected to them. It consists of employers. They come to a meeting once a month and we talk about what is going on in the economics of the community and what jobs people are phasing out of. Because we serve about 70 tribes at any given time we have branched our relationships out beyond just the local communities for the students that will be returning to their communities. We work with their title Tribal Colleges and with the Development People at the state level for the same kinds of information and trends. The other thing we do is have an Extensive Internship Program on a national level. We have to develop a lot of partnerships so students get that opportunity and know what the work is going to be like. They create those relationships for themselves within professional arenas. That is a huge piece. We also have developed something similar to our friend in that in listening to employers and looking at what they need, we have built almost all of our one year and two year programs programs aimed at folks leading to get employment the certificate so they can take a oneyear program but is all broken down into pieces. If they start and then need to go to work and then come back, they will have a credential that will allow them to stop out and return without losing time and money. It also provides for those that need to work through their College Careers and allow them a livable wage like an emt certificate or phlebotomy or a flagging certificate that will allow them to continue work while they are going to college with a wage above minimum wage. Thank you. We appreciate it. I yield back my time. Thank you to chair and Ranking Members. With all due respect, there is a federal role in education and important one. Many of the federal laws on education came out of the civil rights era. As we approach Higher Education act reauthorization, we need to honor that by promoting equity and safeguarding opportunities for everyone to get Higher Education. Of course hbcus and minority serving institutions are a big part of meeting that equity role. We need to make sure that there are the resources and policies to help students to succeed. I want to start by congratulating dr. Mchatton for your universitys National Chess championship which i understand is twice in a row. I have long been supportive of chess education especially in the k12 system. Tremendous academic benefits but i want to say congratulations. Its a bigger compliment, but i want to start with dr. Dubois. Thank you for your testimony talking about your virginia Community College system. Im also a Community College graduate. I went on after my Legal Assistant Program to get a bachelors and law degree. I know firsthand the Critical Role that Community Colleges play in opening doors. They opened an opportunity for me. In my home state of oregon the Community Colleges typically serve Large Populations. Students of color, low income students. They are doing some innovative work but challenges remain. Especially the resource challenge. And the obstacles encountered by students that deter completion. A couple of those you mentioned in your testimony homelessness and food insecurity. I saw your story about the student who couldnt concentrate and went to speak to the professor and ended up staring at the granola bar because he hadnt eaten for two days. Can you talk about how your colleges are addressing homelessness and food insecurity, and also what the federal government can do to help with that . octored what dr. Dubois thank you for the question. Admittedly, these student insecurities are becoming much more of the dialogue with Community College leaders. Who would have thought that we occasionally have students that have to live in a car or are going hungry . What are some of the things we are doing . We arent doing enough. We have food pantries at all of the Community Colleges but we cant food pantry ourselves out of this. We need faculty and staff that know how to help someone in who is eligible to sign up or snap. Help is critical for these students. They also need more help than that because it will cover the mandatory cost to attend, the but these students are facing all of these other difficulties so we are doing everything from asking the Philanthropic Community to step up. The best dollar we can raise is for student Emergency Funding. Students dont have just one emergency. We are doing all that we can with the resources that we have , congresswoman, but we run out of those resources very quickly. Quick thank you. Im going to try to get another question in but i appreciate your response and we are certainly making sure that that we are funding snap and pell grants. I read your impressive background. Im the founder and cochair of the congressional steam caucus where we integrate our design we advocate for integrating arts and design into stem fields because it helps students become more creative and reaches more students especially as they are going through the k12 system. We have nationally recognized steam Elementary Schools that are engaging students and helping them to be creative. I wanted to talk about i know you have 70 of the student body is female. Im excited. Im on the science committee. Talking about getting more women into science, technology, a field thatath i call steam. How do you create an environment that encourages your female students to pursue careers that are typically maledominated . If i could use a line from st. Francis of assisi, that if you are preaching preach by , example. The example we have before on the faculty, that has been the exhibitor. I will remind you xavier was the first Catholic College or university that allowed women and men to attend class together. It did not exist. In many ways the sisters who founded us work were feminist before the word was coined. What erases all of our students of expectation what in braces all of our students is a culture of expectation. We expect students to rise high to reach high. We show them that its possible because others have done it before them. The emergence crisis, we are seeing a dearth of young males who are exceeding the succeeding as well. Weve had initiatives to reach out to them as well. My time is expired. Thank you so much. I yield back. My first question is for mr. I dont know if i have that right. I looked at your background very , impressive. Congratulations on all you are doing at xavier. I noticed before this you had an executive position at savannah State University. A couple of hearings ago, take it or leave it, but a couple of hearings ago we had a hearing based on the idea that we had to have more federal involvement because we had too many schools that were too segregated, the implication being that schools that were too much of one racial background or the other is a real problem. Now we have a situation in which we are calling for more money for historically black colleges. Youve done a tremendous job and i have no problem putting more money in historical black colleges, though the only thing is i kind of wonder here, we are getting mixed messages on this committee whether its really important to weigh in and make sure every high school is more segregated or given your background i wondered if there was a comment on that issue. The first thing i would say is that the historically black colleges whenever segregated except by law. 1940s, ats and xavier we had students who were africanamerican or white could not receive the degree legally , but their degree was awarded by villanova. We have students who are not africanamerican and have been with us before. What i would say is that these hbcus have been engines of bringing africanamericans into the Creative Workforce and also agents of social mobility. And they continue to produce. The country needs that because that talent base is what we cultivate in the country. Hbcus isppening in happening in mostly hispanic colleges as well is about creating balance for the country. We overproduce in educating students to become doctors, lawyers, and policymakers, that is what we do. Investing is not individual benefits but the students, they benefit for their communities and their regions. Im not denying the tremendous job. Im just wondering on the larger issue if you have a comment. What im saying is it is important that our students engage with students of all ethnicities and they do. In our communities they work at , hospitals and they are interns throughout our communities. Students from tulane and loyola engage with our students as well. Our students actually are very well integrated and others are welcome to us as well, and that has always happened. Thank you. I think all of you at some point or other in your testimony talked about poverty and the importance of lifting people out of poverty. I wondered if you had any comments, having dealt with so many people who at least by the federal definition of poverty are in poverty, is there anything you notice about those families compared to other family units . That sort of thing. And if you are doing anything to make sure the next generation or the generation that you touch, that their children do not wind up in poverty . If i may say, what we have seen not only in recent history but in the decades and almost century that we have been, that our students when they receive a , degree, it is not something that benefits them alone. It touches their families. What we see is suddenly the nephews are coming to college, the sons. We are opening new doors. There is a cascading effect that we see. What we see is that the lift communities out of poverty. Ok, do any of the others of you have observations on what type of situation the federal government defines as a family in poverty and what you will do to make sure the next generation does not wind up in poverty . Did you make any observations as to that . Glenn grothman very quickly, the best thing i think we can do is to help individuals get post secondary credentials. Observations you have are the two any observations you have you said you deal with your students as to the type of family situation that results from someone being referred to as poverty . You dont know . Your mind is blank . No. We have poverty in rural areas and we have poverty in our inner cities. The best that we can do is help them get a post secondary credentials because 12 grade is no longer the finish line. Thank you. Your time is expired. Ms. Adams. Alma adams thank you madam chairman, and thank you to the Ranking Member as well, and thank you for your testimony. Where you start out in life doesnt have to determine where you are going to end up or how far you are going to go. I grew up in poverty myself, for black girls in new jersey but education is the pathway to greater opportunities. Most of you may know that my background in terms of historically black colleges and universities are particularly important to me. I taught on a campus in greensboro for 40 years and am a pit oftime graduate of an hbcus twotime graduate of an hbcus, North Carolina at t an t. North carolina one of the first things that i did to put together the caucus with my colleague and now my cochair. We have 88 members and some of them have been here today. Weve accomplished a lot but as has already been revealed, thank you, at savior very much for being here and all that you are doing to make Xavier University a premier hbcu for graduating black doctors. If you look at the statistics, while we only make up 3 of colleges, hbcus are producing 17 of all bachelors earned by africanamericans, and 25 20 of all stem graduates. We have had little but we have done much. What is unique about the hbcu campus environment . First of all theres a culture of expectation. And expectations that students rise to. We have faculties that what they need individually we will address. The other piece that is crucial is weight we have the example of those that have come before and are important to them as well. The expectation is what i would call the secret sauce of the element. When students come to us, many do not have the education they deserve so whatever guests they gaps they have we will help amazingair, and it is what happens at the end. Yes, sir, i know. You filled some gaps for me. We have talked a lot about job market demand. Whats advantages do you have in creating offerings meet the demand market . Hbcus have been we educate our students broadly, which gives them a lot of flexibility. Many go on to other levels and readapt as they have to. What they do have is they have learned to work hard and on complex matters and they become masters of the fields. I also want to thank you for caucus. The hbcu this has been a very important way of getting our message out. What strategies will make your job easier . Affordability is a challenge for us. We have students who are hell help students who are pell eligible. Pell is crucial to these communities because we have 50 or more of our students in these communities who are eligible. That is a major struggle for us. Helping students pay for college is an important piece. Pell is something that we cannot tell you how important it is and do somethinge you for us. Could you elaborate on how or whether your local workforce or chambers is in terms of aligning programs to suit the Workforce Needs . They do, and we are engaged in creating internships and with our students to sample and practice while were there. Agencies and our chambers of commerce before watching the second or third years have experiences whether in laboratories or a clinical or the workforce setting. Thank you very much. I just want to end with a comment that i always like to remember by w. E. B. Dubois, who said of all the civil rights for which the world has struggled years,ght for for 500 the right to learn is undoubtedly the most fundamental. Thank you all for believing in that right and thank you all for being here. Thank you, madam chairwoman. Thank you all so much for being here. I want to ask you about the situation of students when they come to you, dr. Dubois, when i was running the michigan workforce system some years ago, Something Like 60 of students coming to Community College s nationally needed some kind of remedial education. Is that still the case . Yes sir, in mathematics, typically. Can you talk to us about your connection in virginia with the whole adult Education System for people who because i know that many students are not coming straight from high school. And what we should do to Better Connect Adult Basic Education with Community College. My observation is that the systems are generally complete if they connected in the k12 Education System. Very rarely is the instruction offered contextualized for a Career Pathway or a person. I would appreciate your comments on that, and im curious about what the situation is in hbcus , too. I would like to hear your thoughts. In virginia, the basic legislation Education World is basically a k12 responsibility. Having said that a number of superintendents have kind of subcontracted that out with Community Colleges. I do believe that adults need to go to adult places. This is my editorial many of these adults come to us because they want a job or a better job. Thats right. And we should be putting more of them into a contextualized, applied, shortterm pathway to get to that job. Once they get to that job, i think they will raise the bar and move on with Higher Educational goals. But i agree with your preface that these pathways should be contextualized, applied in a vocational career area. Dr. Verret . Reynold verret i would agree with my colleague as well, but i would also say one of the remedial issues that you point to is the fact that many do not get the precollegiate preparation that they need. I would extend it beyond mathematics because what we found out actually is Language Arts are more of a barrier to mathematics and also to physics and chemistry and history as well. So we have student whos are who are getting degrees who may have high gpas but that the and sats dont seem to match. I would speak to the investment in k12 as well to make our work much more doable. Being able to resource teachers because Great Teachers really matter. Thats as essential as anything else this country could need. In other countries, people say lawyer, doctor, engineer, accountant, teacher, and we pay our teachers in this country much less than other professionals. We dont invest in them properly. And our investment in educating teachers is because normally its for a mission, but we know the work of Building Society is educating Great Teachers and getting them to our classrooms is crucial. We dont get away by skipping them. But let me just say, we know what needs to be done here, dont we . For example, if someone is learning english, and they come really for a job, for a career so they can support their family, if we teach them dick and jane ran up the hill, theyre going to stop coming. If we find out they could be an x ray tech or they should be a cnc operator and if we start teaching them their basic skills tied to a Career Pathway, they come back, right, and in that adult context as you say. So can someone give me some i mean i ran the michigan workforce system from 2007 to early 2011. Are we making any progress here in this regard nationally . Just quickly, i think in virginia were making progress through our fast forward programs where we are simply an adult that needs help to get some training, we dont require the ged to be a welder. You need some basic reading skills to be a truck driver, not necessarily you dont necessarily have to have a High School Diploma or equivalent. We have moved more and more into that direction, helping adults secure employment through shortterm Training Programs. Thank you. Mr. Trone next. Mr. Trone thank you, for holding this hearing and thank you to our witnesses. We know the Community Colleges and historically black colleges and universities and other minorityserving institutions play a key role in providing College Opportunities for lowincome students and students of color. We also know that while these institutions are doing the most work to close that achievement gap, and advance economic mobility, theyre severely underresourced. Its great to see the Community Coming together in a bipartisan way to prioritize and address this issue, and i look forward to working with all of you on this. Madam chairwoman, id like to enter into the record this report by the United Negro College fund, which is led by my close friend, michael lomax, who actually was the m. C. When i was sworn in to congress in our event just recently, entitled the hcbus make america strong, the positive impact of historically black colleges and universities. So ordered. Thank you. The 2017 report found that the total Economic Impact in the u. S. Is 14. 8 billion annually. The equivalent of ranking among the top 200 corporations on the fortune 500 list. In maryland, we have four hbcus that generate 1 billion in economic output and 10,000 jobs. A maryland graduate can expect to make a million show less text make 1 million more a year due to that credential. So, dr. Verret, if we strengthen federal investments in hbcus, what do you see whats it look like on longterm roi by making this investment look like . Whats the return on investment . Reynold verret the return on investment is huge because right now it is critical that we develop our talent. The talent that we have to build our new industries, whether its the digital industries, its the Hightech Industries and also our creative industries, whether its the movie industry, et cetera, is from these young people. That talent we leave on the table underserves us. Because other countries, i know, are doing a good job of educating their talent and they are not going to share it. Building our diversity with better ways and different ways to look at the problems and challenges we have. The Creative Minds that we have on the table and in our second and third grades should not be wasted. Absolutely. Dr. Dubois, i know you have extensive experience in both Community College systems and the criminal justice space. A top priority of mine has been criminal justice reform, i believe the impact of education on these individuals that have been incarcerated, society as a whole is crucial. Research from Rand Corporation found that incarcerated individuals that participated in education while in the Correctional Institution decreased recidivism 43 . How do we best strengthen and expand high quality Education Opportunities for justiceimpacted individuals, and what would that impact on this be . Thank you for the question. In the mid1990s, i taught in attica state prison, a maximum security prison, with genesee Community College. It is something im very familiar with. Research is clear. Most prisoners are going to be released within three years. 90something percent. What do we want them armed with . A future . And if we do, its going to be some kind of educational credential because recidivism rates have been clear for over 25 years. At one time, the federal government was supporting prisoners through pell. I think we had one college that participated in an Experimental Program with pell. We would welcome the opportunity to receive more pell support for incarcerated students. Have you seen a state thats done a bestcase job in this area . Sometimes i hear alabama, but does anybody know of a state thats really worked with Community Colleges and Correctional Institutions hand in hand to help address this disaster . In the 1990s, new york. Of the 30 Community Colleges in new york, we probably had about 14 or 15 of them very involved in inmate Higher Education. There was a lot of research that was done back in those days. I can certainly make that available to you. How do we help students in virginia with their Mental Health disabilities . How do we get more money focused on that . What should we be doing to help . Thats a great question. We are struggling with that question as we speak. It was only just two weeks ago where i announced a major task force on this very, very issue of student insecurities, including Mental Health, financial problems, legal problems. These are the students that are coming to us today. We need answers, more and more answers to that kind of a situation. Thank you. Mr. Timmons. Mr. Timmons thank you, madam chairwoman. Thank you each for coming to testify before this subcommittee. Im going begin, dr. Verret, Xavier University of louisiana has created an Emergency Fund to cover unanticipated student expenses. How were you able to establish this grant funding, and what have the results been for students who end up needing this unexpected money . Reynold verret well, the Emergency Fund was founded four years ago when i arrived, and it was first funded through alumni and also friends of xavier who were not alumni. Some members of the board have contributed to this fund. We have raised these funds because were aware that there are students who are in good academic standing, especially as they are in their third or fourth year, about to finish, who are at risk of not persisting. It may be from tuition funding, but it also may be other things, for example, clothing, a home medical crises, and we apply that. Its small because we are not a rich institution, and we do need more, but it parallels what my friends have been speaking about, other needs including Housing Needs because we do give housing scholarships for homeless students. Weve received calls from homeless shelters that you have a student here, do you know about this . And we have ways of responding. We need to respond. Also, we need resources to meet those needs. Thank you. Do you have a ballpark of how much has been put into the fund or the average Reynold Verret the average year we had some, between we had somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 in the fund. Thank you. Also, dr. Verret, you note in your written remarks that a challenge for many students of color is their preparedness for collegelevel course work. What are you doing to increase student retention at xavier, particularly for students who may struggle in their first year . Reynold verret i would say not only students of color, but it clearly affects our urban students especially. What happens is in the first year, our diagnostics, Early Alert Program will tell us students in their early first semester, that are in need of academic support. Theyre given academic support and make sure the individualized tutoring they need in certain areas is provided. Xavier is not a selective institution. We have students from 18 to 34 on the s. A. T. S. But those students in greater need, we have seen progress because last year we saw, especially among the group with greater precollegiate challenges, that their retention numbers have gone up significantly. Do you think this program could be modeled for other hbcus . It could be modeled for almost any other institution. Thank you. You mentioned a tcu Innovation Corridor Initiative Core Initiative to help entrepreneurs put their ideas into action. What are the goals behind this initiative . How do you anticipate the program will work, and what are the expected results for students and local economies . Sorry, i will give you the question again. You mentioned a tcu innovation Core Initiative to help entrepreneurs put their ideas into action. What are the goals behind this initiative . How do you anticipate the program will work, and what are the expected results for students and local economies . Sandra boham tcu innovation around theilt research and work students are doing with particularly science programs, that they would find programs thatent could then be scaled up and marketed to build the economy through creating new jobs and new enterprises. I yield back the balance of my thank you. Time. Thank you. Ms. Wild . Rep. Susan wild thank you, madam chairwoman, and thank you to the panel for being here to speak today on this very important subject. I will tell you i am not a member of this subcommittee, but i came to hear what i could of your testimony and have read your testimonies because i feel that this is such an important area for us to cover in this committee. I am a representative from the 7th district of pennsylvania, the Lehigh Valley of pennsylvania, allentown, bethlehem, easton area, where we have a wealth of institutions of higher learning. We have several very fine private fouryear colleges. We have a smaller parochial private college. We have a state school. But the pride and joy of our community are two incredibly good Community Colleges Lehigh Carbon Community College and North Hampton Community College. These two schools in my district are such high quality, they offer a range of academic and career Training Programs. The statistics on those two schools is after graduation from the twoyear programs, 93 to 94 of their alumni are either continuing their education or in a career. And i think thats a statistic to be so incredibly proud of. And both also serve a Large Population of students of color. Lehigh carbon Community College is a hispanicserving institution. North hampton Community College is the number one associate degree granting college in pennsylvania for latinos. So if i seem like im bursting with pride, i am a little bit about those two schools. Having said that, i visited both of those schools since i was elected, and i have learned from their administration about some of the challenges that the administration faces because in the face of constant decreases in funding, these kinds of schools not just these two in my district, but these kinds of schools across the country that are struggling so much to keep from raising tuition for their students, and by and large are doing a pretty good job of it. But that money has to be taken from somewhere. And so what im consistently hearing from them is that the schools are contracting the services that they provide to students and that, too, is a real harm to the students. And id like you perhaps, dr. Mchatton, to address well, first let me go to dr. Verret and ask you about how Student Outcomes vary depending on what institutions are able to spend on the instruction and the Student Support systems. Reynold verret i dont have a thorough study in front of me that i can refer you to, but in my experience i should mention i was in luzerne county, so i know the other lccc quite well. What i would say, that the resource that we need to meet the needs of students where they are takes time and faculty. On our faculty, we have very few adjuncts. Except a few professor and professors and practice. We have fulltime faculty engaged with students even in their introductory classes. That devotion is important for our students. It costs. If you were to reduce those services at xavier, our outcomes would suffer. We know that. So it is important that when we speak of remedial or other needs, but meeting students with the course they need or the support structure that they need to persist in subsequent courses rather than throwing them into deep water without knowing how to swim. Thats criminal. What we need, those resources are crucial. As you reduce those in Community Colleges or colleges around the country, the outcomes will suffer. Some of the things i was told and all of you may also have seen is there a greater need for things such as child care on these campuses. Theres a need both of these schools as well as some of the fouryear schools in my district have food support programs, food banks, and then of course theres the issue of attracting and retaining good talent in the academic force. So i commend you for being able to keep fulltime professors as opposed to relying solely on adjunct personnel. I wanted to ask, if i could, dr. Boham, because im very interested in your testimony about working with local Industry Partners to ensure that students are on a pathway to good jobs. If you could just in a very short period of time ive left you, give us a little bit more information about how you make those connections with local industry. Dr. Bohan we do that in a very facetoface kind of handson way with our business partners. And a good example of that was one of the studies that we did said that we needed people in our hospitals that were certified medical assistants instead of the on the job training assistants that they had had before. They were changing their practice, which a lot of medical fields are doing, changing the scope and role of particular jobs. And so we implemented a certified medical assisting program that would meet the needs of those hospitals statewide, because its two different providers, and theyre regional, so theyre not its not just montana. Thank you very much. Sorry. My fault. I left you with very little time, but thank you for your input. Thank you. Ms. Omar . Rep. Omar thank you, chairwoman. Thank you all for being here today to have this important discussion. I have a staffer who made the choice to attend a Community College. He then went on to a fouryear university and eventually got a graduate degree in an ivy league school. While that is the kind of stories that we would love to hear, not many have the opportunity of having that kind of progress achieved. Some of our students are getting stuck in Community Colleges. After six years in college, four in ten students still havent earned a degree, and that as a nation, weve barely made any progress in increasing college Graduation Rates over the past two decades. And we know that underfunded colleges with low Graduation Rates disproportionately enrolls students of color and lowincome students. Community colleges that are less selective or open access receive less state funding and charge lower tuition. And affordability remains a challenge even at college with relatively low tuition costs. Of collegest includes text, supplies, living classes which are similar to colleges. Many students who are low income are working adults who face instability and jobs, who have family demands, who have emergency expenses. Out of Community College students nationwide, 40 are firstgeneration College Students. Among Community College students, 22 were both food and housing insecure during the last year and 80 experienced both of those challenges as well as homelessness. To all of you, i would love for you to share how your institutions are helping some of these students move through these challenges so they can attain graduation. Thank you for the question. Your description is certainly very accurate. With studentsged facing the most difficult life fundedtances, and we are at the lowest rate of any Public Sector of Higher Education, so it is fiscally a challenge. We also are under pressure to not raise tuition, and yet, we have to. We try to do that in a very modest and careful way. What we are doing in virginia is whatever extra dollar we have, we want to invest it in student services. We think that is the best bang , to helpdollar students be successful. Our students need coaching day one. They need guidance. They need navigators, they need social workers. They need people who understand where the resources are in the community and put those students in touch with those resources. Representative omar i cannot see your names. Be mindful of the time, too. Along with some of the things that have already been discussed, i think what is important and our institutions is building capacity among faculty so they are able to stay connected and identify students early on when they are in need of particular support services. Developing a Summer Bridge program to prepare students who are firstgeneration students and might have some academic needs has been very successful. We have also had some are Led Team Learning and supplemental instruction so there is a lot of academic support throughout their first year and beyond in order to help them with any academic needs they may have. Representative omar thank you. If i can just have you follow. Hat up with recommendations how we use early alert is important for us because it is important professors and instructors be able to identify a student who is actually not appearing in class, a student who is coming in very tired for another reason and to give a shout out to the early alert youem for people who say need to pull this young person in because all those are indicators something is going on. You need someone competent to engage with that student at that point and determine whether it is housing, food, it could be other things, a student was injured in some way, and to find out. Education is the greatest equalizer, but we have to first equalize the situation so young people are able to attain that situation. Representative thank you, madam chair. And dr. Een listening barrett, i can blame you because generally a staff get so upset because we spent so much time preparing for these hearings, beautifully put together binders, and then i throw it all away. Because im so invested in the work this committee does. I went to a Community College. And what i heard today was you talking about your thoughts on k12 education. It reminded me of an experience that would be tremendously relevant. I was a high school teacher, 15 years in the classroom, i taught africanamerican history, and i had so many students that had never heard of then heard of a hbcu. There are so many kids outside this network until somebody teaches them about it. At that, coupled with that i recognize that as National Teacher of the year, i traveled to over 40 states and it is a national problem. It is diversifying the educated workforce and the number of teachers of color. Produce more instant produce more teachers of color than any other institution. Do you have any thoughts on how we expand this network, brought in the spectrum, so you are not just having this conversation with young people in louisiana who might be thinking about entering the profession, but also kids in connecticut . Ande do need to resource support teachers. Going intodents Higher Education who have loans, high costs, we dont want that. We need programs that support teachers, because they are our most precious commodity. There is an example at the National Science foundation which came out from the lack of stem educators, where we would provide tuition support to students who commit to teaching for the next five or six years, after that. End many of those teachers remain in the teaching profession. We needed for other disciplines as well, whether it is a social studies, special educators, we have to provide a way for loan forgiveness for that. Colleges,e do at our whether Community Colleges or hbcus can only be made better if the kids have a fundamental k12 education they deserve. Representative we cannot underscore the fact that just capacity building, i went through Community College, undergrad, Masters Program and a graduate program, where i was the only africanamerican in an educator preparation program, not in my state, but in my program. We are an education state and i was the only person of color through my academic journey. Capacity building is a recruitment issue. We do to recruit educators is beginning in high school was students who might consider becoming teachers. We have to do that. About theve to think capacity of our hbcus that are producing teachers. That otherder support to build their capacities as well. Representative i notice your female, atjority mostar are over 25. Are over 25. Representative from my state recently introduced a bill on childcare. I went back to college as a single parent. Can you talk about what types of support this population needs to can help thehow we Parent Congress . You canty childcare take your children to and know they are going to be safe and well cared for is critical for our female and male students. We have a number of fathers that are primary caregivers as well. Have, on our campus, a preschool, and that is critical, but we also need quality afterschool programs so that parents can focus on their schoolwork and not be worried about the safety of their children. We also know that children that are in preschool and that go into kindergarten are going to have larger vocabularies and be better prepared. And that preparation will follow them throughout their entire k12 education. When i was working in the k12 system, one third of native students in special ed between kindergarten and third grade were there for language. And it wasnt that they were special ed, it was the number of Vocabulary Words that they had. So these programs are critical. Representative thank you. To robbie scott, chair of the education and labor committee. Representative scott thank you. Dr. , congratulations on your success in the virginia Community College system, particularly in the shortterm programs that dont necessarily lead to a degree, but lead to a good job. There is a consensus, a growing consensus, that we ought to allow pell grant to finance shortterm programs, but there is a lot of concern and we want to make sure they only go to quality programs. Can you say a word about what elements there are in your program that we should look at as we evaluate whether a program is of such quality we want to allow pell grant to help fund it . Thank you, congressman scott. Two elements in some kind of accountability system. One is program completion. In a highloyment demand, family sustaining wage job. Representative scott how do you work with local businesses to make sure there is a demand for your graduates . Fundingceive any state in virginia, first of all, we have to have demonstrated demand. That information and data needs to be collected by our local Community College, it needs to be verified by my senior staff and the state board has essentially granted me authority to certify that program as eligible for some state funds or not. And the truth is really in the pudding when we look at job placement rates, which are very, very, very high. Many Pharmacy Technicians will we need in virginia . When we see those placement rates start to come down, we will probably turn off the state support for those programs, because we only want them to be in high demand. It is different region by region, but the colleges do a very good job is demonstrated by very good job, as demonstrated by job placement, that we have an accountable system. Representative scott how do ruralrograms differ in virginia versus urban virginia . We have 2 Million People in rural virginia and 6 million plus people in the other part of virginia. 40 of our fastforward credentials are now being earned in rural virginia. The only difference i would suggest, the big one, is that jobs that are in demand in certain regions, lets say southwest, south side, are different from jobs that are in demand in your region. Areexample, in grundy they not really crying out for a lot of welders. But your major employer, that ceo goes to sleep at night and wakes up worried about where he can find welders to build aircraft carriers and submarines. So we pay a lot of respect to those regional differences. We are not a franchise where we have the same menu across the board at 23 different Community Colleges. Representative scott thank. Dr. Baird, xavier has an outstanding reputation at barrett, xavier has an outstanding reputation at producing medical doctors. Can you explain that success . With intentionality and advising students as they arrive. We prepare them for the pathway they are headed to, courses they need, experiences they need, and how to prepare for interviews and prepare their essays. There is aiece is, curriculum that is well set by that hasty, a faculty great commitment in how that curriculum is delivered, and to make sure the students are actually at the top of their games, even when they take the medical entrance exams. So it is faculty, it is also the advising. Replicable, because we us and otherr of hbc universities that visit xavier to see what we do. What is not replicable as they faculty culture, the campus culture. That piece, where faculty replicates itself, when they hire people and choose new members of the faculty, there is a criteria of exactly, can they deliver for our students . That is very intentional, and we seek to retain that. Representative scott thank you. I want totive recognize the Ranking Member for closing remarks. Representative thank you, madam chair, and thank you for scheduling this hearing. I thought it was an outstanding hearing. I would like to thank each witness for taking your time to join us today to talk about higher ed reauthorization, talk about the impact your schools are having. Commend you to for the great work you do, educating students and helping them to have the opportunity to achieve that success, to climb that ladder of economic success. Fromrts only things coming the schools, the Physician Program at xavier, stem development, the fastforward program, the shortterm skill programming, the Nursing Program at s kc, and that is just a little bit of what you talked about. The opportunity to highlight some of these excellent programs today. One thing we can do is promote excellence when we see it. Able to share are those best practices, and other institutions can learn from the leadership you are providing, and at the work that you are doing. I know the federal government can also do more help to can also do more to help the todents and help the msis help students not only access Higher Education, but persevere to completion and succeed in the workforce. So as we consider reauthorization, we can talk about earn and learn programs, workforce pal funding, more flexibility in spending for and increased collaborations between institutions and local employers. So i look forward to continuing this conversation. We are not all born into the same environment, but that difference of initial circumstance should not mean that we shouldnt all have equal opportunities to succeed. Promise oflly the america. So i think it is really important, the work that we are doing on this reauthorization, it is important that we get it all students can achieve a better life for them and their families. Again, thank you for the work that you do. And i would again like to thank the Ranking Member. Thank the like to Ranking Member for those comments. And to thank all of you because you brought Important Information. We know historically that the students that you serve have not really had full access to our Education System. So it is important we move today, andm from certainly the work that you have been doing for many years, we , by offeringat culturallyrelevant programming that recognizes how Important Community is. Empowerd other colleges students to become the next generation of their community, and that is why it is important to all of us that these opportunities are available, because we need them for our future, and we all have to buy into that notion and know that it is not helpful when we shortchange your institutions, when you are serving in many cases the most vulnerable students. What is interesting about the multiple challenges they face is that you are helping them where acknowledging that you have to be adaptive in your togramming, and to be able truly move with the time, and what we need as a country. We have talked about so many of the programs, the models that you brought, and part of what we are trying to grapple with here is how to make them work right, how to scale them, and how to be certain that they are opened and that they are exceptional, that they are prestigious for young people and that everybody leaves feeling that they have great value in the time that they have spent, not that it has been time that has been wasted. Dr. Barrett mentioned often we find that. Congress cant really expect institutions to continue disproportionately serving vulnerable students while simultaneously fighting to receive vital funding from federal, state and local governments that they need. So we have to continue to work to reauthorize the Higher Education act and commit to supporting these institutions strapped and on the front lines of our effort to provide americans to equal access to Higher Education. Thank you very much. I would like to enter a statement from the university of ifornia los angeles California State University of los angeles, highlighting best bests is csula uses. Ces csula the committee is adjourned. Thank you. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] cspans washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Sunday morning, we discussed labor unions at Work National right to Work Foundation president mark mix. And then with the center for American Progress center for workers project executive director. Watch washington journal live at 7 00 a. M. Eastern sunday morning. Join the discussion. Newsmakers, guy cecil, chair of priorities usa and its super pac, talks about efforts to elect a democratic president and put more democrats in the senate. Here a preview. The most undervalued thing about running for president president is knowing and being able to explain why you are running for president. That sounds like a pretty basic criteria. The one thing that Elizabeth Warren has going for her, if you ask her in 30 seconds, five minutes, two hours, why shes running for president , she has a clear case. Its consistent with her lifework. I think thats a really important fact. Cory booke