Raising the Bar for Higher Education in a Time of Fiscal Constraints

Current and former governors, university and college presidents, chancellors of several state university systems, and other national education leaders gathered at the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs on December 6, 2010 to examine strategies to improve higher education in a struggling economy, including how to increase the number of Americans with college degrees.

Participants in "Raising the Bar for Higher Education in a Time of Fiscal Constraints" included Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman, vice chair of the National Governors Association (NGA); Ray Scheppach, executive director of the NGA; Gordon Davies, former director of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; former Wyoming Gov. Jim Geringer, a founder of the online Western Governors University; Virginia Tech President Charles Steger; and Leonard Sandridge, executive vice president and chief operating officer of U.Va.

Final Report of the meeting (full pdf file)

AGB President Rick Legon’s blog post after the meeting.

Read the papers that served as background for the meeting:

• A New Funding Paradigm for Higher Education 
• Defining Attainment and Policy Responses to Improve Performance
• Improving Cost-Effectiveness 
• Metrics for Efficiency and Effectiveness in Higher Education

The meeting was hosted by the Miller Center, the NGA, the National Conference of State Legislatures and the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges.