Pressing state-policy priorities
What feels most important to the officials who lead states’ higher-ed boards and coordinating agencies? The State Higher Education Executive Officers Association surveyed its members after the November election to get a sense, asking leaders to grade topics on a five-point scale. It released the findings on Monday.
Here are the top state higher-education-policy issues, according to SHEEO’s survey. At least 80 percent of respondents called each of the following “very important” or “important.” This is a top-11 list instead of a top-10 list because the last two issues’ average scores were tied.
- State operating support for public colleges and universities
- Economic and work-force development
- State funding for financial-aid programs
- Higher education’s value proposition
- College completion and student success
- College affordability
- Enrollment declines
- Public perception of higher education
- Free Application for Federal Student Aid completion
- Adult and nontraditional student success
- Student transfer pathways
For all the election-year hype, priorities proved largely consistent with last year’s. “College completion and student success” edged “college affordability” out of this year’s top five.
- “With some states already having to make tough budget decisions, I think we’ll continue to see headlines around operating support, state funding for financial-aid programs, and the conversation around college affordability and the value proposition,” Tom Harnisch, SHEEO’s vice president for government relations, said in a statement.
The context: For all the faculty concern about threats to academic freedom, state higher-ed leaders are worried first about other priorities. Just 6.1 percent of survey respondents called academic freedom a “very important” priority this year, and 34.7 percent called it “important.”
🔗 Read the full report: State Priorities for Higher Education in 2025
Quote of the day
“Everything is on the table.”
— Pat Grassley, a Republican speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives
The speaker wouldn’t rule out changes to the 56-year-old Iowa Tuition Grant, according to The Gazette. The grant is a financial-aid program for students who enroll in the state’s private colleges. It provided an average of $6,100 to more than 8,000 students in 2023.
Could lawmakers limit the grants based on what students study? Democratic House Leader Jennifer Konfrst said she’s heard such talk, calling it “incredibly shortsighted, because it is not looking at jobs that might be necessary five, six, seven years down the road.”
The grants could also be leverage in lawmakers’ efforts to curtail diversity, equity, and inclusion work on campuses. DEI “will be part of the discussion,” Grassley told The Gazette. Lawmakers have already prohibited spending on DEI offices at public institutions, except when it’s required by law or accreditors.
The bigger picture: Public financial-aid programs are typically restricted based on whether a student needs the money to attend college or posts qualifying academic performance. Awards based on majors are an idea to watch as policymakers hammer work-force readiness as a priority.