Hawaii Report Card on Public Postsecondary Education

State by State US Chamber of Commerce Ranks Leaders and Laggards

From http://icw.uschamber.com

Why This Report?

Projections of labor market demand show that two-thirds of all jobs will require some postsecondary education by 2018; however, given today’s disappointing levels of higher education productivity, labor economists estimate that the United States will fall 7 million degrees short.

While American employers increasingly struggle to find the talent they need to grow our economy, our youngest workers rank a disappointing 15th out of 34 industrialized countries in the percentage with a college diploma.

Tuition rates have grown at three times the rate of inflation in recent decades, prompting students, employers, and policymakers alike to question how efficiently and effectively our institutions of higher education are using the precious resources made available to them.

Students who enrolled in public colleges three years ago now face tuition as much as 50% to 80% higher in some states—reflecting a model of postsecondary education that is expensive, inefficient, and slow to change.

Seventy percent of our high school graduates now move on to some form of postsecondary education, but fewer than half of those who enroll finish a degree or certificate within six years.

There is a growing skepticism among employers about whether those lucky enough to graduate have acquired the skills and knowledge necessary for success in the 21st century economy.

Prospective students, policymakers, and taxpayers deserve comprehensive, quality data to help drive crucial decision making. However, most existing data systems are flawed and do not provide sufficient information.

About the Report

This report identifies the best and worst performing states—the leaders and laggards— in public postsecondary education. It focuses on the performance of the institutions over which state governments have the most influence: public colleges and universities. In an effort to systematically measure the most important factors being watched by policymakers, business leaders, and concerned citizens, we graded state performance and policy in the following six areas:

Student Access & Success

• Do state institutions retain and graduate a high percentage of their students within a reasonable amount of time?
• Do they ensure access for low-income students?

Efficiency & Cost-Effectiveness

• How much money do public institutions spend on education and related expenses per degree produced?
• How much does it cost, in state and local spending, to produce degrees?

Meeting Labor Market Demand

• How much better do college graduates fare than their less-educated peers in terms of employment and wages?

Transparency & Accountability

• Do states measure learning and labor market outcomes? Do they routinely make information on the performance of the higher education system available to the public?

Policy Environment

• Do states have policies in place that provide incentives to promote degree completion and allow students to transfer course credits freely within the system?

Innovation

• Have states made efforts to embrace innovative ways of delivering college instruction?
• Do states encourage innovative providers to serve nontraditional students who may be underserved by the existing system?

HAWAII REPORT CARD

Hawaii Overall Grade: D

Four-Year Institutions

• Student Access & Success D
• Efficiency & Cost-Effectiveness F
• Meeting Labor Market Demand C
• Transparency & Accountability D

Two-Year Institutions

• Student Access & Success D
• Efficiency & Cost-Effectiveness F
• Meeting Labor Market Demand B
• Transparency & Accountability F

State

• Policy Environment B
• Innovation: Online Learning B
• Innovation: Openness to Providers A

Student Access & Success

Hawaii gets low marks in this area for both four-year and two-year institutions. The state’s four-year institutions score well in credentials produced per 100 full-time equivalent undergraduates but below average in completion rate, retention rate, and the percentage of undergraduates receiving Pell Grants. The state’s two-year institutions have a relatively high retention rate but score much lower on the percentage of Pell recipients and completion rate.

Efficiency & Cost-Effectiveness

Hawaii receives very low grades in this area, with both a four-year cost per completion ($85,139) and a two-year cost per completion ($77,267) ranking in the bottom 10 nationally. State and local funding per completion ranks in the bottom five states for both sectors, at $85,249 for four-years and $58,532 for two-years.

Meeting Labor Market Demand

The median wage of a Hawaii bachelor’s degree holder is approximately $17,200 (or 56%) more than the median wage of a high school graduate; the overall unemployment rate for a bachelor’s degree holder is about 5 points lower. The median wage of an associate’s degree holder is approximately $9,900 (or 32%) more than the median wage of a high school graduate; the overall unemployment rate is about 4 points lower.

Transparency & Accountability

Hawaii receives an average score for its public accountability resources but overall poor and very poor grades in this area. The state does not measure student learning or labor market outcomes, contributing to its overall below average performance.

Policy Environment

The University of Hawaii (UH) System has a list of performance measures with targets to 2015. The UH System also has an outcomes-based funding system. Each school has set outcomes targets, and the weights for each outcome vary by campus depending on the institution’s mission. Ultimately, about 3% of an institution’s budget is at stake. The UH System also has an articulation policy whereby a student can transfer an associate’s degree to a four-year institution.

Innovation

The UH System’s distance learning portal includes courses and degrees for both four- and two-year institutions, and the state has explicit targets to increase distance learning. Regarding new providers, Hawaii asserts very little regulatory authority.

State Facts at a Glance

• Number of Public Four-Year Institutions -- 3
• Number of Public Two-Year Institutions -- 7
• Number of Students Served by Public Four-Year Institutions -- 17069
• Number of Students Served by Public Two-Year Institutions -- 18854