Let’s cut college costs, strengthen our workforce
In order to take the next step forward for New Hampshire’s economy, our next governor must make it a top state priority to cut college costs, cut student debt and strengthen our workforce.
To do so, we must transform our state higher education system as a whole – from career and technical education in high schools to community colleges, four-year degrees and job-training – with a clear vision: lower costs, cut debt and boost workplace relevance.
Today, high student debt rates – including the highest in the nation here in New Hampshire – mean our young people are starting families later in life, buying homes less often, and creating their own businesses with less frequency than their parents. It’s holding back our entire economy.
New Hampshire’s in-state tuition is also the highest in the nation, and our high school graduates seeking college leave our state faster than any other state except New Jersey. Meanwhile, 3 percent unemployment means too many job postings go unfilled, holding back our businesses from faster growth.
Higher education innovation isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, but I know from my own work that we can take the next step forward for our state. Three years ago I left Stonyfield Yogurt to help launch Southern New Hampshire University’s College for America – a nonprofit, accredited school dedicated to helping working adults achieve a college degree, most completely debt-free.
When I started, we had about a dozen employees, a promising pilot project, and no paying students. This past year we enrolled more than 4,600 new students, as many as UNH and Dartmouth combined. Most importantly, we built deep partnerships with employers from small businesses to Fortune 50 companies so that the education is leading to job promotions, retention of great employees, and business growth.
Helping build College for America showed me there is opportunity for more support of New Hampshire’s state higher education landscape.
Here is how:
1. Boost state support for public higher education funding but connect it to clear accountability goals for the first time (like reductions in student debt, in-state enrollment levels and graduation numbers into sectors of key workforce demand). We can’t afford to still be funding our university system at pre-recession levels. But increased state support must result in clear outcomes-based measurement to ensure efficient use of tax dollars and a direct boost to economic growth.
2. Better connect higher education paths across all academic levels to ensure lower-cost completion. Today some of our most important higher education occurs in career and technical education in our high schools. Earning part of a degree in high school, community college or a trade program can significantly lower out-of-pocket costs for a four-year degree down the road, but these paths need to be available for every student and expanded in sectors like information technology and computer science.
3. Bring employers closer to higher education to boost workforce relevance. This includes prioritizing expanded internships to loan repayment and employer tuition reimbursement options, as well as direct partnerships like BAE’s successful partnership with UNH and Albany Safran’s composite manufacturing programs with Great Bay Community College. But one-off partnerships aren’t enough, and part of a governor’s role is to elevate and coordinate our top statewide priorities. That includes moving forward with opportunities like Gateway to Work, where we can repurpose unused public welfare dollars to support job-training.
Cutting college costs, reducing student debt and strengthening our workforce will bring and keep more young people, young families, new businesses and startups in New Hampshire, and it will unlock the potential for strong growth at some of our best employers. New Hampshire’s economic future, more than anything else, depends on investing in our people.
Colin Van Ostern is the Democratic candidate for governor.
