University of Vermont President Tom Sullivan. File photo by John Herrick/VTDigger
Student retention and graduation rates, the cost of instruction, financial aid, student debt load, and job placement rates after graduation are measurements used in many states to link higher education dollars to performance-based funding.
A higher education subcommittee put in place by the Legislature last session is beginning work on a performance-based funding proposal for Vermont which could affect funding for both the University of Vermont (UVM) and the Vermont State Colleges (VSC) system.
The committee is looking at how many students served are from Vermont, from low-income backgrounds, are the first in their families to attend college, and come from minority groups.
A proposal is due to the General Assembly and the governor by Dec. 15.
Ultimately, a performance-based funding proposal could call for a portion of state funding for both UVM and the VSC system to be allocated “based upon nationally recognized and established performance measures,” according to the legislation.
“One of the things that’s emerged in higher education has been the move toward attempting to see whether creating performance-based standards to meet specific state goals is a better way of utilizing scarce state resources rather than a traditional model,” said Scott Giles, CEO of Vermont Student Assistance Corp.
Currently, $67 million in state funds is split between UVM and the VSC system, with UVM taking a larger portion, nearly two-thirds of the pot.
Of that amount, UVM receives $42.5 million and VSC receives $24.3 million to spread among five colleges.
The UVM Allied Health Sciences programs also receive an additional $1.2 million in state appropriations.
The Vermont Student Assistance Corp. receives a state appropriation annually, which was $19.4 million.
Increasing the number of Vermonters with postsecondary education is important for the state’s economic goals, stakeholders have said.
Tricia Coates, spokeswoman for the Vermont State Colleges, said that in 2009 state leaders agreed that by 2020 a total of 60 percent of Vermont adults should hold a postsecondary degree or credential.
The state is at about 45 percent of that goal.
VSC Chancellor Jeb Spaulding on Wednesday said performance-based funding is something the executive and legislative branches in Vermont have been moving toward, and he welcomes that approach for higher education.
“It’s totally consistent with the direction being moved in by many, many states,” said Spaulding. “I certainly welcome the conversation.”
Spaulding said the subcommittee will need to home in on priorities for Vermont.
“I’m optimistic we can work with the committee and hopefully develop a proposal for the Legislature,” he said. “In a time of constrained revenues and budget challenges, it does make sense for the Legislature and the governor to say, ‘OK, if we don’t have a lot of new money, let’s make sure the money we’re spending on higher education is being spent in a way that’s most likely to give us the desired outcomes we want.’”
In other states, the performance-based funding model has incentivized colleges to educate more low-income and first-in-family college students.
“It’s changed institutional behavior and led to a higher rate of citizens in those states earning degrees, and that would be a fine thing for the state of Vermont and our economic future,” Spaulding said.
Tom Sullivan, president of UVM, “fully endorses” performance-based funding for higher education.
“UVM is performing exceedingly well in all objective bases, including financial access, affordability, retention, graduation, and career placement metrics compared to its national peers,” Sullivan said. “We can demonstrate through our outcomes and economic impact data that we are spending the state appropriation very wisely, and that UVM’s modest state appropriation represents a remarkable return on investment in Vermont.”
VSC graduation, debt, student aid
A total of 12,305 students are enrolled in Vermont State Collges and 84 percent are from Vermont.
The retention rates for the 2013 to 2014 school year show Vermont Technical College with the highest overall student retention rates, with 71 percent on average for all students and 72 percent for Vermont students.
The four-year graduation rates for first-time, full-time students within the VSC system are highest for Castleton both for the overall student body and students from Vermont, at 35 percent and 37 percent, respectively.
The graduation rates for first-time, full-time Vermont students from Johnson are 20 percent; for Lyndon, 18 percent, and from Vermont Tech, 35 percent.
At CCV, it’s lower, 5 and 6 percent respectively, but many students at CCV take only a course or a few courses and may transfer out and complete degrees elsewhere, which is typical for community colleges, said spokeswoman Pamela Chisholm.
CCV’s graduation rate overall is 17 percent, compared to the national average for community colleges of 18 percent, said Chisholm.
Within the VSC system overall, of 1,904 total degrees awarded (not including master’s level degree recipients), 949 were low-income, 1,125 were first generation, 147 were from minority groups and 987 were adults 25 years or older and 85 percent were earned by Vermonters.
VSC Financial Aid
The information shows that 80 percent of CCV students receive financial aid with an average award of $4,765; at Castleton, 71 percent of students receive financial aid, with an average award of $6,339; at Johnson, 85 percent receive assistance averaging $7,480; at Lyndon, 84 percent receive financial help, averaging $7,104; and at Vermont Tech, 74 percent of students receive aid, an average award of $7,100.
The average student debt load for the VSC system is:
Castleton, $22,096;
Johnson, $20,963;
Lyndon, $19,944;
Vermont Tech, $21,892;
CCV, $7,319.
Eighty-four percent of the VSC students last year were Vermonters, according to the VSC presentation.
UVM student, cost data
At UVM, the net cost of attendance after all non-loan financial aid for Vermonters in fiscal year 2014 was $16,655; for out-of-state it was $33,057.
The average student aid award for Vermonters was $9,467, a 37 percent discount, while for out-of-state students, a 30 percent discount with aid averaging $13,991, was awarded.
A total of 31.4 percent of the undergraduates at UVM in the fall of 2014 were Vermonters, said UVM spokesman Enrique Corredera on Monday. Including graduate students, UVM’s student body is 36.4 percent Vermonters, he said.
Student loan debt for Vermont students with loans averages $21,475 upon graduation, and $26,000 for out-of-state students, compared to the national average of $28,600, according to the UVM presentation.
The retention rate from fall 2013 to fall 2014 for Vermonters was 92 percent at UVM, 85 percent for out-of-state students.
Degree completion rates at UVM for Vermonters is 64 percent at UVM, and 61 percent for out-of-state students.
First-generation students earning a degree included 269 students from Vermont, and 207 out-of-state; the number of Pell recipients earning a degree included 243 from Vermont and 247 out-of-state; and students from minority groups included 67 Vermonters, and 146 out-of-state students, the UVM data shows.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Performance-based funding may affect UVM and Vermont state colleges.