FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 27, 2009
Contact: Gretchen Cook (202) 478-4665

DECLINE IN COLLEGE DEGREES THREATENS U.S. GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS

Washington, DC – A drop in the number of college degrees, particularly in the sciences, is threatening U.S. supremacy in scientific advances and the nation’s edge in the world marketplace, according to an American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) commission report released this week.

“As much as troubling times might turn our focus inward, the Great Recession itself dramatically demonstrates that global interconnectedness and global competitiveness are simply different sides of the same coin,” said Western Washington University President Bruce Shepard, chair of the Presidential Leadership and Global Competitiveness Commission. “Our graduates compete with the best from around the world; they must not only be world class but fully world aware.“

The report on the commission’s yearlong study cites data showing that the United States and Germany were the only two nations in which those aged 25–34 have attained less education than their parents’ generation. U.S. students today are also less likely to earn degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, skills that are in high demand in the digital age.

The 12-member commission called for boosting “international literacy” on campuses by fostering awareness of other cultures among students, and encouraging them to learn foreign languages and to study abroad. Businesses and lawmakers must also support higher education as an essential component of U.S. global competitiveness, according to the commission’s recommendations.

AASCU President Muriel Howard said that the colleges and universities she represents are best positioned to make a difference because they educate over half the nation’s students who attend four-year public institutions and that their student bodies constitute a demographic “United Nations” with their significant diversity. “Our schools are critical to preparing students for the increasingly multi-cultural marketplace. Fortunately, they understand the evolving needs of the workplace and they are agile enough to respond quickly,” she added. Recurrent data suggest that at most educational levels, the performance of American students no longer matches or exceeds that of other advanced nations. And while higher education was once a premier U.S. commodity, many countries are promoting their own schools and seeking to educate their students at home.

The report warns that though some may welcome the decline in foreign student enrollment, “if fewer international students enroll in AASCU universities and colleges, these institutions run the risk of becoming less international in character, thus diminishing the likelihood that students gain a significant understanding and appreciation of other cultures.”

AASCU formed the commission last year in an effort to respond to the challenges of shifting economic realities created by the free flow of capital and labor across borders, the pre-eminence of multinational corporations and the rapid expansion of international trade. The commission was funded by the American Academic Leadership Institute (AALI), which provides leadership identification and development programs across all higher education sectors and institutions: public and private, two-year and four-year.

The Commission’s members are: President Susan C. Aldridge, University of Maryland University College; President Donald Betz, Northeastern State University (Okla.); President Robert A. Corrigan, San Francisco State University (Calif.); President Helen Giles-Gee, Keene State College (N.H.); Chancellor Jack Hawkins, Jr., Troy University (Ala.); President Robert W. Kustra, Boise State University (Idaho); President Dorothy Leland, Georgia College & State University; President Michael T. Nietzel, Missouri State University; President P. Kay Norton, University of Northern Colorado; President Denise M. Trauth, Texas State University-San Marcos; Chancellor Jorge Ivan Velez-Arocho, University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez; and President Leslie E. Wong, Northern Michigan University. The Commission on Presidential Leadership and Global Competitiveness convened their first meeting at AASCU’s Summer Council of Presidents on July 19, 2008.

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AASCU is the leadership association of 430 public colleges and universities Delivering America’s Promise through their common commitments to access, affordability and educational opportunity. Enrolling more than 3 million students, these institutions fulfill the expectations of a public university by working for the public good through education, stewardship and engagement, thereby improving the lives of people in their community, their region and their state.