NEWS | April 2008 - all articles

This page includes all articles in the April issue of NEWS. Return to summary or go to the NEWS archive.

Minnesota high school graduates to “bottom out” in 2015
Academic centers express institution missions in the community
Policymakers can capture an increase in grant money for college students
Briefs

Minnesota high school graduates to "bottom out" in 2015

New projections show that states in the Midwest will experience a drop in high school graduates through 2015. Minnesota will follow the same pattern, "bottoming out" at approximately the same time before beginning a gradual increase. It will take until 2022 for Minnesota's graduate numbers to return to the levels they are at today.

These projections come from the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), which has been tracking high school graduate numbers for 30 years. The data also show that the Northeast is beginning to resemble the Midwest in terms of decreasing numbers of graduates.

Among five Midwestern states, only Iowa will show a gain in high school graduates by 2015. By 2022, Minnesota will have the region's only other gain in graduates, at 2 percent over 2015 levels. While Iowa's number of graduates will increase 6.7 percent by then, Minnesota's other neighbors will still be in a graduate deficit. Overall, the Midwest stands to have fewer grads in 2022, the final year of the commission's projections.

A decrease in Minnesota high school graduates has been expected for some time. New is the projected increase between 2015 and 2022. This increase will likely be made up of immigrants and students of color, especially those of Hispanic ethnicity, whose numbers are rapidly increasing. These groups have a history of lower levels of enrolling in college.

As high school graduates of color increase, Minnesota must ensure that more of them enroll in and complete postsecondary education. This is critical to our state if we hope to have an adequate and highly educated labor force.

Consistent with previous projections, the commission's data show the highest growth in high school graduates in the South and West.

While WICHE data is projected to 2022, only 10 years are used in this analysis due to the unpredictable nature of migration trends over time.

Academic centers express institution missions in the community

Word is getting around about the Hmong Studies minor now offered by the Center for Hmong Studies at Concordia University, St. Paul. Lee Pao Xiong, director of the center, can attest to this based on the barrage of e-mails he receives. "Our minor is the only one in the world and people contact me from all over asking about it," he said. "In the second year of the program, we have 10 undergraduates who take seven Hmong-specific courses."

Centers and institutes exist on nearly every campus of Minnesota's private colleges and universities. They have wide-ranging purposes, but all serve audiences beyond their students — they connect academics and the community. In fact, for many of them, it's a way to express their mission in their communities.

Take the example of the Center for Hmong Studies. The Hmong people are dispersed around the world because of wars and instabilities; many have settled in the St. Paul neighborhood near Concordia University and attended or received services from the school. "We are a natural choice for a Center for Hmong Studies," said Dr. Robert Holst, Concordia's president. "We have established relationships with the Hmong community and they see us as a welcoming, neutral and enriching place. We are committed to promoting and advancing the study of their rich heritage."

Noted Hmong scholar and author Zhang Xiao from China visited the Center earlier this year.

The Center is becoming a go-to place for students, scholars, researchers, the media and community members who have an interest in Hmong history, culture and language. Since opening in 2004, it has had 4,000 visitors. The Hmong Archives Collection — an independent nonprofit with 4,000 books and 2,000 video and audio tapes — is now based there. The Center also hosts the public affairs radio program "Haiv Hmong," holds frequent public lecture events and actively supports and conducts research. In partnership with the Women's Environmental Institute, the Association for the Advancement of Hmong Women and Ready 4 K, the Center is assessing the impact of perfluorochemical (PFC) on Hmong families and individuals living in the East Metro area of the Twin Cities. (PFCs are manmade chemicals used in nonstick cookware, stain-resistant carpets and fire-fighting foam; studies of their health affects are still underway.)

On the weekend of April 11-12, the center will host its second annual International Conference on Hmong Studies. More than 500 people are expected to attend the conference to hear Dr. Jacques Lemoine, a researcher about the Hmong since 1950, and other speakers and presenters. "We hope the conference will encourage more focus on Hmong research and help attract young people to the field," Xiong said. "We are creating a place for high quality interdisciplinary study that benefits our state and the world."

Developing ethical leaders
Across the river in Minneapolis, the Hendrikson Institute for Ethical Leadership, a collaborative partnership with Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, is another example of private college outreach.

Aiming to nurture and develop ethical and globally-oriented leaders, the Institute was established by Saint Mary's alumnus Bill Hendrickson in 1988. "There are attitudes that are important for ethical leadership and we believe that we are uniquely qualified to help instill them in our leaders," said Lindsay McCabe, the Institute's executive director. As part of its Lasallian mission, Saint Mary's provides education in the Catholic tradition. "This means we seek to awaken, nurture and empower learners to ethical lives of service and leadership," said McCabe.

Among the institute's offerings are a Servant-Leader Training Academy which teaches participants to lead by serving and modeling ethical behavior, as well as a Corporate Directors Academy for current and aspiring board members of non-profit organizations and corporations. "A Business Owner's Roundtable of about a dozen small business owners — mostly minority — formed with the Metropolitan Economic Development Association, get together every month to talk about ethical issues they face. At a recent meeting, the group talked about opportunities for developing leaders in their companies. "They look for people who share their values," said McCabe, "and they have to ‘walk the talk' — modeling the honesty, integrity and appreciation for diversity that they want their employees to demonstrate."

The Institute is hosting "Forum 2008" on April 30. This inaugural event of an annual speaker series and ethical leadership award presentation will feature a keynote by John Mickelthwait, editor-in-chief of The Economist. Former Cargill chairman Warren Staley and his wife Mary Lynn Staley will receive the first award for their contributions to ethical leadership.

"The Institute provides training and programming that is delivered to diverse groups of people working in a variety of settings. It enables people to explore ethical issues and Saint Mary's to serve the community," McCabe said.

Policymakers can capture an increase in grant money for college students

Minnesota students stand to benefit from a $15 million increase in funding for need-based aid for college students if the state takes appropriate steps. This welcome investment is the result of long-awaited Congressional action. It is up to Minnesota policymakers to make sure that students receive the full benefit of this substantial increase.

Due to the increases to the Pell Grant recently enacted by Congress, an additional $15 million is available for the Minnesota State Grant Program, serving 80,000 college students. State grant awards reduce what students have to pay from savings or loans for a college education. For low- and middle-income college students — one out of four in the state — this new money to expand the size of the awards is overdue. Many college students also will be newly eligible for the awards. For families struggling with higher education costs, this assistance can't come soon enough.

Exactly how the $15 million will be allocated is now in the hands of Minnesota legislators. Last week, the House and Senate passed their finance bills. The bills differ on how the aid is added and how much goes to State Grant recipients. In the Senate bill, all $15 million would be invested back into the program, increasing the amount and number of awards. In the House bill, $11 million would be invested into the State Grant Program, while $4 million would transfer to other programs.

Now the bills move to a conference committee to work out the differences. Gov. Tim Pawlenty preserved State Grant funding in his budget balancing proposal; legislators need to do the same to maximize the benefits of the federal increase.

Investing in State Grant awards is the most efficient and fair way Minnesota can help college students afford the educations they need. And when we help these thousands of college students, we help our whole state. Policymakers can be good stewards of Minnesota's future and capture this long-awaited increase — and not let it slip away.

Briefs

• Watch "Vanishing Graduates & Minnesota's Future" on TPT Channel 17 on Sunday, April 13 at 7 p.m. This thought-provoking documentary examines why a shrinking number of Minnesota's students will be graduating from colleges and what that means for Minnesota. Find out more at LearnmoreMN.org.
• Six students have been selected as Phillips Scholars for 2008-2010. This program supports the development and implementation of a student-designed service project to address unmet needs in Minnesota communities.
• 543 students (a 22 percent increase over 2007) participated in six Day at the Capitol events during February, March and April to advocate for the State Grant Program.
• 65 high school counselors attended the second annual Counselors Breakfast on March 25 to learn about the 17 private colleges and universities from campus representatives.