The School of Continuing and Professional Studies is looking to expand its class offerings as part of an effort to help more Virginians earn college degrees.
The SCPS, which currently serves about 300 adult students in Charlottesville, Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia, educates "the forgotten audience" of adult undergraduate students, SCPS Dean Billy Cannaday said. To serve this audience, the school attempts to provide them with an opportunity to balance their busy lives with having career goals, Cannaday said.
By expanding the program, the University can help "make certain that that audience has a meaningful, doable path for achieving a very important life goal that not only benefits them, but their families and the communities in which they live," Cannaday said.
In addition to efforts in Charlottesville, the expansion will include eventual partnerships in Richmond and other areas of Virginia, he said.
Cannaday said he already met with the presidents of John Tyler Community College and J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, both of which are based in the Richmond area. In addition, Cannaday said he wants to explore the possibility of creating either one or two schools to enable adults in that area to pursue degrees, starting as early as fall 2012. Eventually, Cannaday said, the SCPS also may expand to other areas of the state, particularly southern Virginia and the Eastern Shore - areas that, Cannaday said, have a lower proportion of degree-holders.
These plans are part of a larger statewide initiative called Grow by Degrees, which aims to award 100,000 additional associate's, bachelor's and graduate degrees by the year 2025. The program, which has been endorsed by Gov. Bob McDonnell and is sponsored by the Virginia Business Higher Education Council, seeks to prove that investing in higher education will bring great rewards to the state.
The campaign's primary goal is "to highlight the relationship between investing in higher education and the economic outcomes that are a result of that investment," Grow by Degrees spokesperson Mark Hubbard said.
Hubbard cited a study conducted by the University's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, which found that every dollar the state invests in higher education generates $13 of increased economic output. The study also found that every dollar the state puts into higher education yields $1.39 of tax revenue because generating degrees creates jobs.
Currently, about 42 percent of working Virginians have college degrees, Hubbard said, adding that only 35 percent of college-aged Virginians are enrolling in college. Although this figure compares favorably to its national counterpart - U.S. Census Bureau data shows that 29 percent of adults aged 25 or older held a bachelor's degree or above as of 2008 - the program still hopes to increase Virginia's performance, in part by ensuring that 50 percent of college-aged Virginians are attending college by 2020. Such a change would give the commonwealth top-tier rankings in terms of college graduates and make it a "better-educated, more-employable state with a better economy," Hubbard said.
Hubbard also said he hopes the program will reverse the past decade's trend of state funding cuts, which saw a 40-percent decrease in state funding for full-time students and an almost 30 percent decrease in per-student funding for community colleges, Hubbard said.
"If we do not turn the tide and make this investment, Virginia will start falling behind," he said.
Although Grow by Degrees is focused on the economic benefits of higher education, these investments may bring additional benefits. An increase in higher education levels within a community often correlates with higher quality of life, greater economic vitality and lower crime rates, Cannaday said. Providing these benefits can help honor what Cannaday called the University's commitment to service.
Nevertheless, with a tighter state budget and nationwide economic downswing, expanding higher education may take creativity and innovation.
Expansion efforts must be "a combination of investing more money and making sure we are being as efficient as we can," Hubbard said.
Grow by Degrees has been looking into more inventive strategies, such as creating a three-year undergraduate degree program, using University facilities year-round and using technology for long-distance learning.
"[Technology] really does fit well for an adult that already has a busy life," he said, adding that the use of technology will allow his school to expand through more than just the addition of new building space.
In light of this consideration, Cannaday said his program is currently training faculty to use technology in the classroom and as a tool to teach between many different classroom locations across Virginia.
Hubbard said he is hopeful that the University's expansion will contribute to the state's overall goals for higher education, jump-starting "a ripple effect of more graduates, more higher paying jobs and more people working in Virginia"
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