Funding Early College High Schools
In my most recent column for the Bangor Daily News, I discussed Paul LePage’s early college high school idea, describing it as the most compelling school reform idea put forward by any of Maine’s gubernatorial candidates.
A number readers who posted comments on the BDN’s website wanted to know how such a program would be paid for, with some suggesting that it might prove to be very costly.
I haven’t run the numbers on LePage’s specific proposal, but I don’t see it dramatically adding to school spending. In fact, I think it could be done within existing resources.
Here’s why.
According to the Maine Department of Education, average per pupil spending by Maine’s schools is little over $11,000. Generally speaking, about 60% of that spending is instructional in nature, while 40% is devoted to non-instructional spending such as administrative, facilities, and transportation costs.
So the average Maine school spends about $6,600 providing instruction to students. At $6,600 per year, can students be provided with enough college-level courses that they could receive an Associate’s Degree in five years of high school as LePage proposes?
Well, according to the Maine Community College System, it can provide courses to students for $84 per credit hour, which amounts to $252 per three-credit course. Twenty courses, which would get you to an Associate’s Degree, would cost $5,020 per student, which is less than what the average K-12 school spends per-pupil on instruction in a single year. Spread those courses out over 2 or 3 years and they could easily be done within existing resources.
Where would the savings come from?
Making senior year matter. Any parent of a high school senior will tell you that far too much of 12th grade is simply wasted. For instance, having fulfilled most graduation requirements already, seniors often end up taking electives that are largely meaningless . The time and money being consumed by these elective courses could be redirected into college-level courses that result in transferable credit.
Cutting the number of remedial courses colleges are forced to offer. According to a recent report in Education Week, 3 out of every 5 Community College students nationwide “need at least one remedial course.” That means that taxpayers are paying twice for the same course – once in high school and once at the college level. Early college high schools, though, have modified curriculums that begin preparing students for college-level work as early as middle school. Since students in these schools are better prepared for college-level work, the remedial courses so many students need to take today can be replaced with courses that actually move them closer to a degree.
Cutting non-instructional costs. While 40 percent of K-12 spending is non-instructional in nature, the non-instructional share of total spending at the college level is closer to 60 percent. That was what we found, anyway, when we used federally-reported data to calculate instructional and non-instructional spending at the schools of the University of Maine and the Maine Community College System. Having college-level courses available in Maine’s high schools would cut down on the need for many of the non-instructional programs and services at the college level, and those savings could be put back into course development and support.
According to the Legislature’s Office of Fiscal and Program review, Maine’s K-12, Community College, and University systems will spend $1.3 billion taxpayer dollars this fiscal year. It simply can’t be that in all that spending, there are no places to find savings that can redirected toward an initiative as innovative and potentially transformative as this one.
For more on the early college high school concept, visit www.earlycolleges.org, which is a great source of information about early college programs across the country.
Amy Fried
Posted on Oct 15, 2010
I think it's great that this educational policy idea is being discussed, but the conversation has to involve a consideration of some additional elements. One is that Maine students can take college courses in high school already. These are either on-line, at campuses, or through AP classes. (For instance, UMaine offers Academ-E; see http://www.umaine.edu/academ-e/) The students who can handle the material are not the ones who have to take remedial classes in college. They are high-performing students who have good study skills and have been either in an honors track (should the school have one) or have been at the top of their classes. Throwing less-prepared, lower-performing high school students into college classes would either mean great difficulties for them or changing the courses so that they are not really college courses. It should be kept in mind that a high school can call a course a college course, but doesn't mean that any college will accept it as such. It is up to colleges to determine the quality of every course that a student seeks to transfer. Courses are turned down every day when they are found to be inadequate. Even if this were to be worked out in-state, there is no guarantee that a college elsewhere would take the credit. That is why AP classes and the International Baccalaureate are sought by high-performing students around the country -- colleges know what they mean and can determine by scores whether to accept the credits. If colleges and universities do not take the credit, it has been a waste of time and resources. The most rigorous colleges require high AP scores and do not accept at least some of the AP credits. Moreover, there is already a problem in Maine with transferring classes through the public system. As someone who has been a college professor and administrator, I can tell you that it is an injustice to students to have them take a lot of community college or other college classes that do not transfer or, if they do, actually are inadequate preparation. There are students who come to the land-grant having taken introductory science classes elsewhere who simply do not know enough to be able to succeed in upper-level courses. This means they have to repeat the introductory class and no money has been saved. I am not a physical scientist but have seen the same in my own classes. Making community college courses better is not free; it would require hiring people with higher-level qualifications. In California, for instance, the people teaching the introductory chemistry classes have PhDs or are doctoral candidates (i.e, they have done all the PhD level work but have not completed their thesis). If Maine wants to develop seamless transitions from community college courses (offered there or in high schools) to college, it would need to hire people who have such qualifications. Otherwise, the classes are very likely to offer inadequate preparation. It could be that these issues are not a problem for people who seek terminal associates degrees; i.e., have no intention to go on for a B.A. Others with more knowledge of that system would need to weigh in. I also wonder about your financial figures. The college costs you call "non-instructional" involve such things as research labs and equipment, much of which are covered by grants. Furthermore, the presence of these is an indicator that the college is a place where people work who are creating knowledge and therefore at the forefront of it. I have friends who are high school teachers who do a great job but they are not doing the same work nor have the same preparation of college professors. And the differences affect students' education and research opportunities. Also, how does paying for a fifth year of instruction "in high school," no matter how inexpensive, not cost more than not paying for a fifth year in high school? If the school is paying for its current teachers plus additional ones who can offer these courses, this is an additional cost. Are you thinking that the same number of teachers who teach four years of classes in a high school can teach five years worth of classes in a high school? I think this idea warrants additional exploration, taking in mind some of the issues outlined above. However, it is not a simple matter that can be done on the cheap -- not if those courses are to mean anything and to truly prepare students for additional coursework and the workforce.
Geoff Cyr
Posted on Oct 15, 2010
A few other things to consider: 1. High schools are generally in session longer than community colleges and universities. The winter break is usually longer and high schools go as long as a month after colleges have finished their spring semester. 2. Community colleges and universities save money by passing off other expenses to students that high schools do not. Textbooks are the first thing that come to mind; depending on what your major is, you could be adding $500 per semester for books that high schools must pay for. It also costs money for instructional software in high schools that colleges might not use either. 3. Amy brings up a good point about transferring community college credits. I do see this, however, as a potential opportunity for the k-12 system, the community college system, and the university of maine system to collaborate to make a system that works for everyone. Its a nice proposal, definitely the most "innovative" that any of the candidates have proposed to date. I don't think the savings are quite what you think they are, but its something worth looking into.
Steve Bowen
Posted on Oct 15, 2010
Thanks for the great comments! A couple of thoughts in response: Agreed that high school kids can take college level courses already, but what we’re talking about here is really blurring the line between high school and college to a far greater degree than we have done today. If you look at what these early college high schools are doing it isn’t simply that they are letting kids take a few college courses, the whole program of studies is different. Even middle school -level courses are devised in such a way as to lead to these early college courses. We’re talking a redesign of the whole middle school-to-college model here. Agreed also that transfer of credits is an issue- I’d suggest the biggest issue with the whole idea. We can’t even get full transferability within the UMaine system from what I understand, so getting that issue sorted out will be huge – and will require a massive effort. I’ve heard from folks working on the Many Flags concept in Thomaston that even getting UMS and MCCS and K12 and the Voc/Tech folks around the same table is virtually impossible, much less getting them to agree on anything. Making this work will take a steady and strong hand on the tiller. On non-instructional spending, the number I used does include research and labs. The way the U.S. Department Education does it classification, (you can find this data at the National Center for Education Statistics, by the way) “instructional” staff is employed in instruction, research and public service programs such as Cooperative Extension. Non-instructional staffing is in administration, “other professional” such as student support, IT and libraries, and “non-professional” such as custodial and grounds keeping. The percent of non-instructional staff in the UM system is a little over 60%, at the MCCS is it is just over 40%. A lot of that is driven by maintaining so many campuses all over the place, and the hope with this initiative is that you move a lot of the instruction into existing physical spaces with existing support staff, such as custodians, and can then generate savings at the higher ed level by making cuts there. As we move more and more toward online learning, the need for these massive campuses is going to slowly decline anyway. In fact, the whole campus-based brick and mortar model for colleges that we’ve known for generations is coming to an end also, but that is a discussion for another time. Do I think the same number of teachers who teach four years of classes in high school can teach five years of classes? To a large degree, I think they can, if we realign what they are doing. My first year teaching high school, I taught some electives to some seniors (psychology and sociology) and while we had a good time with it and I think they learned something, I look at that in the context of this discussion and think about what a waste of time that was. Those kids could have been taking a real college-level course that was moving them forward in their academic careers instead of a typical senior year elective that is pretty non-taxing academically and through which most of them coasted anyway. By carefully aligning the courses, I think we really can get more academic bang for the buck. The trick is that someone’s ox is going to get gored in the process of making all this happen. It may be that the high school teacher is replaced with a community college professor who does those junior and senior year courses, for instance. The funding will be an issue too. Those AA degree students are the MCC system’s bread and butter, just as they were the bread and butter for the UMaine system until the MCCS came along. Those big freshmen and sophomore year intro courses are money makers – it is the upper level courses, the seminars and the labs, that are costly for colleges to offer. Somehow all of that will need to be worked out. None of this will be easy, but it would be great if just for once, Maine could be a leader in education innovation, rather than bringing up the rear.
Steve Bowen
Posted on Oct 15, 2010
Happened across this great article on the coming age of higher education - maybe shows us what is coming down the road with regard to early college as well... http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/feature/college_for_99_a_month.php
Veronica Hugger
Posted on Oct 17, 2010
We've re-published this post on our blog at http://galvestonec.blogspot.com/2010/10/mainefreedomforumcom-funding-early.html. Some thoughts: - Most early college programs receive start-up grants from the Early College Initiative. - Our program begins in 6th grade - the earliest in the State of Texas. - Enthusiastic leadership, extremely dedicated teachers, and complete buy-in from the higher education institute are key. - The early college experience can prove that students thrive on high expectations.
Anonymous
Posted on Sep 20, 2011
It would seem prudent for these efforts to build on an existing program such as the Maine Community College System's "Early College" program, which has been operative but grossly underfunded for well over a decade. As I understand that model, high schools and the MCCS work to bring the final two years of the secondary curriculum in alignment with the first year of the community colleges, so that the high school graduates can start at the CCs as sophomores, thereby completing an A.A. or A.S. in one year. The A.A. grads can go on to 4-year baccalaureate programs if they wish. Grads with a trade or technical A.S. – many with industry-specific skills – can enter the workforce and/or go on to a 4-year degree on either a full or part-time basis. I do not believe that much, if any, state money has gone into this effort…it’s been limping along with a little federal funding…and neither of the last two governors have stepped up with the resources to make this a truly robust, state-wide program. So rather than making up something out of whole cloth, I would think this is a good base upon which to build. And though I’m a grad of the UMaine System, it is my belief that limited funds will go MUCH further within in the “lean” administrative structure of our Community College System…
Early college examined – The Maine Campus
Posted on Dec 08, 2011
[...] In an October 2010 blog post on mainefreedomforum.com, Bowen, then an employee of the Maine Heritage Policy Center, a conservative think tank, proposed cutting remedial college courses, cutting non-instructional costs in higher education and redirecting resources spent on classes taken in high schools during senior year to fund the hypothetical program. [...]
Early college examined – The Maine Campus
Posted on Dec 08, 2011
[...] In an October 2010 blog post on mainefreedomforum.com, Bowen, then an employee of the Maine Heritage Policy Center, a conservative think tank, proposed cutting remedial college courses, cutting non-instructional costs in higher education and redirecting resources spent on classes taken in high schools during senior year to fund the hypothetical program. [...]