Good evening!
 
Today, the newly formed Colorado Trustee Network issued a letter of support for the “Stimulus With a Purpose” proposal: a way for the state of Colorado to allocate a portion of the federal American Rescue Plan funds - nearly $4 billion dollars - to continuing and prospective students with a one-time financial grant to be used at a Colorado college or university. The proposal has the support of college and university presidents and chancellors across the state, as well as support from Colorado Succeeds, The Bell Policy Center, the Denver Education Attainment Network and the Colorado Commission on Higher Education. You can read more about the proposal here in a letter, sent to Governor Polis, the General Assembly and State Treasurer Dave Young today.
 
The proposal comes at a time when the state - and higher education institutions - will be considering how to allocate federal stimulus funds, and make sense of ever-changing federal rules related to how previously distributed funds can be allocated. On April 19 at 11 MT, we will host a conversation about the distribution of federal CARES Act funds and how institutions of higher education have used the dollars to support students. Dr. Carrie Hauser, President & CEO of Colorado Mountain College will join Dr. Tim Renick from Georgia State, Dr. Wil del Pilar from The Education Trust and Dr. Julie Alexander from Miami Dade Community College for this informative discussion. You can register here.
 
And, don’t forget to register for our April book talk: a conversation with President Mary Marcy from Dominican University in California. President Marcy has written a book, “The Small College Imperative: Models for Sustainable Futures.” She outlines how small colleges and universities are changing to meet the needs of today’s students, while also facing intensifying financial pressures. You can register for the April 21, 4:30pm MT book talk here.
 
You will also see that we have “reorganized” our newsletter sections a bit: “What We’re Reading” will cover both Colorado-focused and national stories; “What We’re Watching” will cover webinars, briefings and events that may be of interest to our community; and “Opportunities We’re Following” will share job announcements, engagement activities and all around ‘good news.’ Share your ideas with us to be included in a future edition!
 
All my best for a great week ahead,
Alison
 
What We’re Reading:
 
Quality Assurance Guidelines Provide Data on Career Growth, Guidelines for Strong Programs: The Education Quality Outcomes Standards (EQOS) Board has created a framework to assess the outcomes of short-term education and training programs. The framework provides universal standards that can strengthen the connection between higher education and workforce development. It allows for a consistent and straightforward comparison of the results from postsecondary programs so that learners and employers can support and identify the most successful programs. Techtonic is a software development firm and apprenticeship program based in Boulder. The firm adopted the EQOS standards to support their apprentices and gather data on how their careers expand years after completing their apprenticeships. [Forbes]
 
Higher Ed Leaders in Colorado Advocate for Funding of Underrepresented Students: The latest federal relief package will direct billions to Colorado, supporting students and state departments as well as helping communities across the state recover from the pandemic’s impact. Colorado first-time college enrollment is down by 12%. Tim Foster, president of Colorado Mesa University, Tony Frank, chancellor of the Colorado State University system, and Joe Garcia, chancellor of the Colorado Community College system together called on the state to direct a portion of state COVID relief funding to provide one-time financial grants for low-income and first-generation college students who are pursuing undergraduate degrees as well as technical certificates. [The Daily Sentinel]
 
Proposed Colorado State Budget Restores Education Funding: Colorado’s proposed $34.1 billion budget aims to restore funding to K-12 and higher education. This year, the state collected more tax revenue than expected, allowing them to propose returning K-12 and higher education funding to their pre-pandemic levels. It also includes $100.3 million targeted for low-income and first-generation college students and a proposed $560 million education fund reserve. First-generation and low-income college students were likely to put their education plans on hold during the pandemic, and state leaders hope these proposed funding changes will help get them back on track. The budget also includes a return of $100 million to fund cash-strapped districts, $41.8 million to support retention and recruitment for students of color, low-income, and first-generation students. [Chalkbeat]
 
Colorado Mountain College Acts as Community Lifeline in Pandemic: Days after Colorado Governor Polis announced the state stay-at-home order in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Colorado Mountain College (CMC) launched CMC Responds, an initiative to provide local businesses with free consulting and waived summer tuition. The college staff and students committed to the Five Commitments to Containment, which resulted in few COVID-incidents on campus. CMC received several multi-million dollar grants and invested them in supporting rural learning. This May, CMC will graduate its largest class of students. [Vail Daily]
 
Colorado Attorney General Leads Multi-State Coalition to Support Student Loan Borrowers: Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser led a 23-state coalition urging the U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to adopt reforms that would streamline the student loan payback process and protect students from paying debt to institutions of higher education that misled them. The coalition has advocated for suspending student loan payments and waiving interest, suspending automatic loan payments and involuntary loan collection, supporting income-based repayment and loan forgiveness, and enforcing gainful employment to shield borrowers from for-profit programs that do not prepare students for careers. [The Greeley Tribune]
 
American Students Face Crippling Loan Debt: Over 44 million Americans have student debt, adding to a collective $1.7 trillion. Most are in their twenties or thirties. While most indebted students are white, Black students on average owe double the amount their white counterparts do four years after graduation. President Biden has called on Congress to cancel $10,000 in federal student debt. [Chalkbeat]
 
Colorado Educator Guides Students During Pandemic, Supports Project-Based Learning: Dr. Michael Bautista teaches construction at the Boulder Valley Technical Education Center and is a member of the state Commissioner’s Teacher Cabinet, a group of educators that provides input to the Colorado Department of Education on how education policies are impacting classrooms. He is an advocate for project-based learning, which allows students to attain the level of learning they want and set their own expectations. While it was difficult to transition to teaching construction online, Dr. Bautista worked out an arrangement that allowed students to benefit from online learning two days per week. First, they would listen to Dr. Bautista’s lecture. On the second day of the week, they would listen to a lecture from an industry expert. The rest of the week was allocated to student projects. [Chalkbeat]
 
Fort Lewis College Makes COVID-19 Vaccine Mandatory for Fall: Last Friday, Fort Lewis College announced it will require its students to be vaccinated to enroll for fall 2021. The college is the first higher education institution in the state and one of the first in the nation to establish such a requirement. Fort Lewis College has about 3,500 students and told its campus that ensuring everyone is vaccinated will allow operations to return to normal as much as possible. More than 40% of the college’s students are enrolled members of Native American and Indigenous communities which have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. [The Colorado Sun]
 
New Education Trust Report Shines Light on Outcomes-Based Funding Models: While more than thirty states currently use outcome or performance-based funding models to tie in a portion of their higher education funding to institutional factors like enrollment, retention, and graduation rates, a recent report based on two-decades’ worth of performance-based funding model studies showed that most resulted in null or modest institutional outcomes. A pair of research papers from 2017 revealed that they could even result in significant funding losses for minority-serving institutions. [Inside Higher Ed]
 
Income Share Agreements Offer Flexible Payment Options for College Students: Out of the class of 2019, 69% of students took out student loans, graduating with an average debt of nearly $30,000. Currently, 9.7% of loans are in default. Income share agreements or ISAs offer funding from colleges (or other sources) that can be repaid based on a fixed percentage of a student’s future salary for a particular amount of time and do not accrue interest. While most schools who offer ISAs do so as a supplement to their other financial aid options, some offer ISAs exclusively. Purdue University offers ISAs to students through their Back a Boiler program. Funds from ISAs at the Purdue are invested directly back into the university to support future cohorts of students. [Working Nation] 
 
Dual Enrollment Programs See National Decline: During the pandemic, the number of high school students who take dual-enrollment courses declined. Students who enrolled in dual enrollment courses were 23% more likely to enroll in college according to one Colorado study. In Idaho, the number of students taking dual enrollment courses through Boise State University fell by 37% in the fall. Many students had to take on jobs due to national economic conditions worsening during the pandemic, and this hampered their success in classes. Students of color are already underrepresented in dual enrollment programs and are much more likely to be hard hit by the pandemic, including having to take on new caregiving responsibilities that impact their ability to succeed in school. [The Hechinger Report]
 
What We’re Watching:
 
Higher Education and State Economic Recovery Webinar: Join the Hunt Institute in conversation about how higher education can form coalitions with stakeholders to boost state economic growth and recovery after the pandemic. The webinar will take place on April 8 at 9am MT and feature Dr. Wil De Pilar, vice president for higher education policy and practice at the Education Trust, Dr. Devinder Malhotra, chancellor at Minnesota State, Dr. Ted Mitchell, president at the American Council of Education, and Dr. Philip Rogers, chancellor at East Carolina University. To register, visit this link.
 
Center Equity in the Learn & Work Ecosystem Webinar: Join Jobs for the Future for a virtual session that will delve into how Virginia, California and Colorado are all redesigning postsecondary and workforce development systems to be more responsive to learners, workers and employers. JFF’s David Altstadt will explore this topic with Lee Wheeler-Berliner of the Colorado Workforce Development Council, Aisha Lowe of the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, and Sharon Morrissey of the Virginia Community College System. The session will be held on Thursday, April 8 at 1pm MT. Register here.
 
Opportunities We’re Following:
 
Senators Unite in Bipartisan Workforce Development Effort, Seek Stakeholder Input: As Congress prepares to improve the National Apprenticeship Act and likely reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), Senate Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) and Ranking Member Richard Burr (R-NC) announced that they are accepting feedback and comments from stakeholders on the WIOA and related legislation. Proposals can be submitted to HELPWorkforceComments@help.senate.gov. The senators will consider comments received until Friday, April 9, 2021 and intend to work on legislation this summer. They are especially interested in hearing feedback on how to improve workforce training in response to the pandemic and related economic recovery, ways to develop, modernize and diversify the apprenticeship system, and ways to address industry needs. To read the full announcement, visit this link.
 
New State Policy Intern Position Available for Summer 2021: The State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) association is seeking a state policy intern. SHEEO is looking for two candidates who will participate in paid summer internships in 2021. The internships are aimed at students pursuing graduate studies higher education, public policy and administration, and related fields and who are interested in higher education policy and governance, policy analysis, and research methods. Interns will be paid $20 per hour and last for eight weeks and can be performed remotely or at the SHEEO Boulder, Colorado location. Special consideration will be given to applications submitted by April 9. To learn more and apply, visit this link.
 
National Policy Institute Offers Positions in Inaugural Education Policy Program: The Postsecondary National Policy Institute (PNPI) has open applications for their Emerging Leaders Development Program, a virtual opportunity for professional development for individuals interested in impacting federal education policy. Scholarships are available to cover the $500 registration fee for non-profit and government applicants or the $750 fee for applicants from other backgrounds. To apply, visit this link. For questions, email pnpi@pnpi.org. Applications are due Friday, April 16 at 3pm MT.
 
Positions Available in Growth, Development with Honest Jobs: Honest Jobs is seeking a new Director of Growth based in Denver and two full-time developers based in either Denver or Columbus, Ohio. To read more about these positions and other opportunities with Honest Jobs and to apply, visit this link.