1. Redefine College…then Build a College-Going Culture
Dayton
November 3, 2014
Brandy Johnson
Michigan College Access Network

2. Michigan College Access Network
Mission: To increase college readiness, participation and completion in Michigan, particularly among low- income students, first generation college going students, and students of color.

3. MCAN’s Values College is… Postsecondary Education A Necessity
For Everyone
A Public Good

4. Vision and Values
College is Postsecondary Education: MCAN uses the term “college” to refer to the attainment of valuable postsecondary credentials beyond high school, including professional/technical certificates and academic degrees.

5. MCAN’s Goal
Increase the percentage of Michigan residents with high-quality degrees or credentials to:
60% by 2025

6. Meeting Labor Market Needs
According to The Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce….
By the year 2020
70%
of the jobs in Michigan
will require
postsecondary education
The Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce shows how crucial the Big Goal is to our economy. It projects the shortfall of degrees nationally to be 3 million by Further, it’s data shows that by 2020, 70 percent of all jobs will require postsecondary training and degrees. For Michigan to reach it’s goal of 60% by 2025, we need approximately 1.3 million additional degrees. Trend projected for 2025 if we stay the course is 43.4%. This means we need an additional annual increase of 6.3%

7. Vision and Values
College is a Necessity: Postsecondary education is a prerequisite to success in a knowledge-based economy. Everyone must pursue and complete a postsecondary credential or degree beyond high school.

8. Most Michiganders and Ohioans Did Not Need a College Degree.
The Past
Most Michiganders and Ohioans Did Not Need a College Degree.
There was a time in America when our fathers and grandfathers could walk out of high school – in many cases, not even complete high school, and walk into a good job that provided for their families. In this manufacturing era, most Americans did not need a college degree.
Since about 1970 or so, this paradigm has been eroding. The information economy coupled with increased technological needs changed everything, and the economy of our parents and grandparents which promised a well-paying job with a high school degree was forever gone.

9. Making the Case for College Access
Bottom Line: Postsecondary education is IMPERATIVE for socioeconomic mobility.
Key Talking Points:
Employer Expectations
Labor Market Mismatch
International Competitiveness
Personal Benefits

10. Global Perspective
The United States’ degree attainment rate has leveled over the past 30 years while degree attainment in other countries has dramatically increased.
In 2012, the percentage of Americans between the ages of 25 and 64 — working-age adults — who held a two- or four-year college degree was 39.4 percent. The rate is increasing slowly but steadily. In 2011, the rate was 38.7 percent, and in 2008 it was 37.9 percent.
Because of the wide range of ages in the adult population represented by the Big Goal, the higher education attainment rate of the young-adult population (ages 25-34) is a good leading indicator of where higher education attainment rates are headed. In 2012, the attainment rate for young adults was 40.9 percent — a one-year increase of 0.8 percent, and more than three percentage points higher than in This is a step in the right direction — in 2008 the higher education attainment rate for young adults was below that of the adult population as a whole. However, this trend must accelerate if the nation is to reach the Big Goal.

11. National Perspective
The United States’ degree attainment rate has leveled over the past 30 years while degree attainment in other countries has dramatically increased.
In 2012, the percentage of Americans between the ages of 25 and 64 — working-age adults — who held a two- or four-year college degree was 39.4 percent. The rate is increasing slowly but steadily. In 2011, the rate was 38.7 percent, and in 2008 it was 37.9 percent.
Because of the wide range of ages in the adult population represented by the Big Goal, the higher education attainment rate of the young-adult population (ages 25-34) is a good leading indicator of where higher education attainment rates are headed. In 2012, the attainment rate for young adults was 40.9 percent — a one-year increase of 0.8 percent, and more than three percentage points higher than in This is a step in the right direction — in 2008 the higher education attainment rate for young adults was below that of the adult population as a whole. However, this trend must accelerate if the nation is to reach the Big Goal.

12. Pace of Progress

14. Employment
Source: Georgetown University – Center on Education and the Workforce. The College Advantage: Weathering the economic storm.

15. Job Loss and Gain
Source: Georgetown University – Center on Education and the Workforce. The College Advantage: Weathering the economic storm.

16. Four-Year Degree Holder
Almost 2x Earning Power
Median Earnings in the Past 12 Months (in 2012 inflation-adjusted dollars)
$25,128
High School Graduate
$46,688
Four-Year Degree Holder
Those with bachelor’s degrees earn about 3 times as much as high school dropouts and about twice as much as high school graduates.
Greater income means:
Increased purchasing power
Greater accumulated wealth
Higher taxes paid
Decreased use of social services
Decreased use of public healthcare
Alliance for Excellent Education, The High Cost of High School Dropouts: What the Nation Pays for Inadequate High Schools, Issue Brief, August
If all racial/ethnic groups in Michigan had the same educational attainment and earnings as whites, total annual personal income in the state would be about $12 billion higher. (Measuring Up, 2008)
We can also look at recent jobless data. During the Great Recession, in which the unemployment rate has hovered between 9 and 10 percent, the unemployment rate for those with a four year degree is under five percent.

17. Vision and Values
College is for Everyone: The postsecondary education attainment rates among low-income students and students of color are significantly lower than those of other students. MCAN is committed to closing these gaps.

18. MI Attainment Rates by Ethnicity
Closing the attainment gap between first generation, low income and students of color will require “concerted and strategic efforts over many years”

19. Vision and Values
College is a Public Good: Postsecondary educational opportunity and attainment are critical to a just and equitable society, strong economy, and healthy communities.

20. 2012 Michigan Poverty & Unemployment Rates

21. The Civic Imperative: Education Pays
Increased Tax Revenues for Governments
Governments spend less on income support programs
More likely to receive health insurance and pension benefits from their employers
More active citizenry – volunteerism/voting
Live healthier lifestyles reducing health care costs – smoking/obesity
Increased social mobility
When internet access is available, consider using the Common Good Forecaster created by the United Way to demonstrate the economic impacts of education.
Better Health: Individuals ages 25 to 34 with a 4-year college degree are 70% more likely to engage in vigorous exercise than those with only a high school diploma.
Closer Family: Parents with 4-year college degrees are 68% more likely to have attended a concert or live show with their children than parents with only a high school diploma.
Greater Wealth: Individuals with a 4-year college degree earn an average of $22,000 more per year than those with only a high school diploma.
More Security: Individuals with only a high school diploma are about twice as likely to be unemployed as those with a 4-year college degree.
Stronger Community: Individuals ages 18 to 24 with a 4-year college degree were 75% more likely to vote in the 2008 election than those with only a high school diploma.

22. Making the Case for College Access
Must be urgency for change around this issue.
Key Talking Points:
We are in a crisis
Current approaches aren’t working – Complex problems demand more complex solutions
We know what works
Potential for additional resources for state/community

23. Barriers
Increase College Completion by lowering barriers that prevent students from getting to and through college
Social Capital
Academic Preparation
College Knowledge – Navigating the Process
Affordability

24. Brandy’s Top 10 List

25. Brandy’s Top 10
Intentionally improve your college-going culture Audit

26. Brandy’s Top 10
Train your high school counselors in postsecondary planning

27. Brandy’s Top 10
Supplement school counselors with college advisers

28. Brandy’s Top 10
College Application Week!

29. Brandy’s Top 10
FAFSA Campaign
AND
Financial Aid Screening

30. Case Study: Detroit

31. Detroit FAFSA Campaign
Big Goal:
70% of all graduating seniors in Detroit complete the FAFSA by June 30, 2013
Baseline: 56% FAFSA Completion Rate in 2012

32. Detroit FAFSA Campaign
Two Values: (1) Work Together. (2) Use Data.
Playbook:
Set a bold goal.
Identify at least one “College Access Champion” in each of Detroit’s 40 high schools (public, charter, EAA, parochial) and major nonprofit organizations. 
Create an listserv with all the champions so we could send and receive timely messages
Share Data: Blast bi-weekly of FAFSA-completion rates by high school. 
Provide schools the opportunity to “look-up” the FAFSA completion status of their individual students. 
Facilitate Action by deploying resources to schools with lowest FAFSA completion rates.
These s helped high schools know how many of their students completed the FAFSA, take accountability for their results, create friendly completion among schools, and sparked conversations that led to meaningful collaboration.
By knowing which students had not yet completed the FAFSA, counselors and college advisers could laser-target their outreach to the students and families that needed it the most.  25 Detroit high schools took advantage of this look-up service in partnership with the Michigan Department of Treasury. 

33. Detroit FAFSA Campaign
Results:
73% FAFSA Completion Rate
New Goal: 80% FAFSA Completion Rate

34. Brandy’s Top 10
College Decision Day

35. Brandy’s Top 10
Putting it all together - Use data to set goals and benchmark progress
AND
Whole community organized under a local college access network

36. What is an LCAN?
Community-based college access coordinating body for college access strategy
Committed to increasing college readiness, enrollment, and completion
Highly structured collaborative effort, as opposed to isolated efforts of individual organizations
Supported by an alliance of cross-sector leaders representing K-12, higher ed, nonprofit sector, government, business, and philanthropy
The Basics

37. What Do LCANs Do?
Commit to building a college-going culture in community
Agree on a vision
Establish clear college readiness/access/success goals – and track progress transparently on a dashboard
Align/coordinate existing organizations to shared goals to fill differentiated roles
Implement collaborative action plan based on data-driven community priorities
Hold partners accountable for results
The Functions

38. LCAN Shared Measurement System
Use a common set of measures to monitor progress from baseline
Small but comprehensive set of indicators establishes a common language the supports the partnership’s goals
Purposes:
Helps align organizations to shared goals and measures
Tool to select priority areas for action plans
Holds partnership collectively accountable for continuous improvement

39. Core LCAN Indicators
Aspirations: % of 8th graders who plan on completing a postsecondary degree or credential after high school
Academic Preparation:
Average ACT Composite Score of 11th graders
% of 11th graders scoring at or above the ACT college-ready benchmarks in each subject area
% of graduates NOT enrolling in remedial education
Affordability: % of 12th graders completing the FAFSA by June 30th
Enrollment: % of graduates enrolling an institution of higher education within 12 months of high school graduation
Persistence: % of college enrollees accumulating at least 24 college credits within 16 months of high school graduation
Attainment: % of young working-aged adults (25-34) living within community with an Associate Degree or higher

40. Case Study: St. Clair County

41. St. Clair County Class of 2008

42. Partners:
K-12: Countywide Intermediate School District + 7 member LEAs
Higher Ed: St. Clair County Community College and Baker College of Port Huron
Philanthropy: Community Foundation of St. Clair County
Business/Government: Economic Development Alliance of St. Clair County / Blue Meets Green
Nonprofits: YMCA of Blue Water Area, S.O.N.S.
Goals:
Increase ACT college readiness
Increase FAFSA completion
Increase college enrollment
Increase college persistence
Increase college completion

43. The KnowHow2GO team
Set ambitious goals
Used data to drive decision-making
Shifted focus to the highest priorities
Built new partnerships
Dedicated resources to college access activities

44. St. Clair County Class of 2013

45. Brandy’s Top 10
Plug-in to national initiatives

48. Discussion and Questions

49. Michigan College Access Network
Contact
Brandy Johnson
Michigan College Access Network