About the REsearch
Want to learn more about the Clements research or what a community college is or does? Give us a call or send an e-mail, and we can tell you more.
More.
Batchelor: It is no longer an option to do nothing
As Erie lags, it's 'no longer an option to do nothing'
By MICHAEL BATCHELOR
Contributing writer
In November 2007, the Erie Community Foundation released a summary report of the Gaps Analysis Committee, a 23-person task force that met six times over eight months to review Erie's declining educational attainment, household incomes, population and economic growth rates relative to Pennsylvania and the nation.
The committee also identified alternatives that could increase access to postsecondary education. While this committee recommended the establishment of a new, free-standing community college to service northwest Pennsylvania, the first line of their report is instructive: "It is no longer an option to do nothing!"
The facts are clear. Here is how Erie County compares to national averages.
-Educational attainment, 22 percent below.
-College attendance rate, 13 percent below.
-Household and per-capita income levels, 18 percent below.
The Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership estimates that every day there are more than 500 positions that cannot be filled due to the lack of a skilled work force. Our poverty rates exceed national averages by 26 percent.
Erie is blessed to have local colleges and universities. In past generations, they were 100 percent Erie students. Now, College Board data indicate the incoming class at Gannon University is 28 percent out-of-state. At Mercyhurst main campus, it is 52 percent out-of-state and at Mercyhurst North East, it is 15 percent. Penn State Behrend is 9 percent out-of-state and Edinboro is 14 percent out-of-state. This is not a criticism. This diversity is good, as are the institutions' increased quality and more rigorous admissions standards.
Rethink Erie's research indicates a significant local market still exists that could be serviced by a community college. In 2001, the Bosworth Study came to the same conclusion. Nationally, there are almost 1,200 community colleges, and nearly 40 percent of all students receiving a four-year diploma began their studies at a community college. Erie is the most populous area of Pennsylvania not serviced by a community college and local taxpayers help support a network of 14 community colleges throughout the state.
A community college requires local support. Rethink Erie's research, which gathered data from about 2,300 individuals, indicated that strong local support exists. Rethink Erie is now developing a plan. That plan, when developed, should be widely distributed and thoroughly reviewed by officials, business leaders, citizens, students and parents. If supported locally, the plan then needs to garner support from the State Board of Education and, eventually, the governor. Business leaders tell us they need a more educated work force. Those working in the nonprofit sector tell us their clientele need increased access to the opportunities education typically provides. Governments tell us they need a more vibrant economy to generate tax revenues. Higher education needs increased support to keep costs affordable.
If not a community college, what will our region do? The status quo is not acceptable. The Erie Community Foundation believes that all of us, working together, can develop solutions to reverse these demographic and educational attainment trends. This is a time for broad civic engagement; business, government, education and citizens, working together. The trends and the demographics are clear. It is no longer an option to do nothing.
___________
MICHAEL BATCHELOR is president of the Erie Community Foundation. He can be reached at mbatchelor@eriecommunityfoundation.org.
View this article on the Erie Times-News website:
http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009306039995