"But the word is getting out that if we ever hope to have that kind of economy, it will be built largely on a strong -- and accessible -- higher education system." - David Sarasohn
Like K-12 education, Oregon?s
public higher education system needs to be globalizing and going more online.
It needs much stronger foreign language programs, and cheaper study abroad
opportunities, as well as schools of education producing bilingual teachers for
Oregon?s
expanding immersion programs in the K-12 system. And it needs to use online
programs to cut the costs and expand the learning opportunities for Oregon students. I get
tired of schemes to just pump more public money into Oregon?s higher ed system without making
these changes. David Sarasohn?s Oregonian column ?Higher education?s bowl game
in Salem? reports on another effort to do just
that: State Treasure Ted Wheller?s proposal ?to issue $500 million in state
bonds to set up an Oregon
higher education scholarship fund? (here):
.... One way to deal with part of those responsibilities might be Wheeler's
proposal to use some of the state's newly available bonding capacity to create
a higher education scholarship fund. Wheeler would issue $500 million in
general obligation bonds in the next two years, and more as additional capacity
became available. In 10 years, with investment returns, Oregon would have a $1.2 billion fund
available -- and in 30 years, $6 billion.
This would be a massive expansion in Oregon's scholarship capacity -- currently dramatically smaller than many other states' funding, and in many case consisting largely of the phone number of the federal Pell Grant program.
From Wheeler's green-eyeshade perspective, it would be a profitable state investment.
"We know that a highly trained workforce is better for the economy," he points out. "This has multipliers."
While the bonds would not construct concrete entities such as buildings and
roads, they would be
building something: "The fund itself is a hard asset.
It will be a competitive advantage for the state of Oregon."
Although it would be more traditional to use the state's bonding capacity to build a student center, it makes at least as much sense to use it to build a student body.
The Legislature will have to approve the bond issue, and since it would be a new use for bonds, the proposal would also have to be passed by voters.
Without Oregon?s higher ed system making significant globalizing and online changes, I would be a ?NO? voter on any such proposal. Too much money would be wasted.
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