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Diving overview:
- New Hampshire should study how to combine the state's community college and university systems to remain sustainable, a task force is recommended.
- At the direction of Governor Chris Sununu, teaThe task force was announced publicly. 33-page report Tuesday follows three months of discussions on issues such as improving access to education in the state. Under the recommendation, the state would consider consolidating the New Hampshire Community College System and the University of New Hampshire System under one governing board and one president.
- In the short term, Universities and community college systems must reduce duplication of academic offerings. Improve the credit transfer process According to the report, it combines administrative workspaces.
Dive Insights:
Snunu in October issued an executive order Directs New Hampshire public college lawmakers, industry experts and leaders to form task force Devise a plan to ensure the long-term viability of the state's higher education model.
“New Hampshire’s public institutions of higher education are not immune from the challenges facing colleges and universities across the country,” Sununu said at the time.
Sununu spoke of the so-called population cliff. This is a decline in high school graduates that is expected to begin next year due to the decline in birth rates during the Great Recession.
Both of New Hampshire's public university systems are already seeing declining enrollment since 2018. New Hampshire University System It decreased by 13.6% from 2019-20 to 2023-24, ending with 27,056 students. According to the task force report. New Hampshire's community college system declined 14.3% during that period. The number of students decreased to 22,128.
The governor's orders are also reducing net revenue for the system.
The boards of both systems unanimously supported the creation of the task force.
The task force said in its report that there was not enough time to recommend structural changes to either system or explore the funding needed to make those changes. These decisions also require legislative action.
The recommendations presented are designed to make higher education more accessible and reliable for New Hampshire residents.
“Through a combination of immediate initiatives and long-term recommendations, these actions will improve access, drive efficiency, improve affordability, and prepare New Hampshire’s citizens for the future,” the report said.
The task force recommended that the community college system move to be recognized as a single college with multiple locations under its accrediting body, the New England Commission of Higher Education..
The report also suggested streamlining the admissions process, including examining whether high school students are notified of automatic admission to state community colleges. Likewise, it recommended that the state's public universities actively admit community college students with a “predetermined GPA.”
New Hampshire's public universities must make affordability a top priority to raise the state's educational standards, the task force said.. Each year, about 12,500 students graduate from New Hampshire public K-12 schools, and about 60% of them go on to higher education.
The report recommended that community college systems examine the costs of providing final financial aid programs. Last dollar funds cover remaining tuition costs after all other financial aid has been applied.
Universities can also reduce the financial burden on students by using open educational resources that are freely available through the public domain or open licenses. These resources can modify, supplement, or replace expensive course materials such as textbooks.
Despite these moves, the state's public agencies cannot afford to focus solely on New Hampshire's students, the report said. He noted that about half of the students enrolled in the New Hampshire university system are from out of state.
“Keeping New Hampshire students in New Hampshire is only part of the solution to the enrollment problem,” the task force said. “Marketing efforts beyond state lines, as well as touting New Hampshire’s strengths, provide a means to offset student attrition to out-of-state programs.”