Investing in Economic Mobility: The Important Role of Hispanic Serving Institutions (Hearing, 2022)
Summary
This is the printed record of a hearing of the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Investment of the Committee on Education and Labor, U.S. House of Representatives, on March 2, 2022 (Serial No. 117-41). Opening statements come from Frederica Wilson, Chairwoman, and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Ranking Member. The witnesses are Dr. Jose Luis Cruz Rivera of Northern Arizona University, Dr. Patricia Ramsey of Medgar Evers College, Dr. Janine Davidson of Metropolitan State University of Denver and Dr. Robert T. Teranishi, Professor of Education. Chairwoman Wilson describes the hearing as the second in a series on universities dedicated to serving underserved students and addresses threats against HBCU students, faculty, and staff. Additional submissions include a Rice University Report from Virginia Foxx.
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“Investing in Economic Mobility: The Important Role of Hispanic Serving Institutions (Hearing, 2022).”
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[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
INVESTING IN ECONOMIC MOBILITY: THE
IMPORTANT ROLE OF HISPANIC SERVING
INSTITUTIONS AND OTHER MINORITY
SERVING INSTITUTIONS
=======================================================================
HEARING
Before The
SUBCOMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
AND THE WORKFORCE INVESTMENT
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, MARCH 2, 2022
__________
Serial No. 117-41
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Education and the Workforce
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via: edworkforce.house.gov or www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
56-699 PDF WASHINGTON : 2024
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR
ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT, Virginia Chairman
RAUL M. GRIJALVA, Arizona VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina,
JOE COURTNEY, Connecticut Ranking Member
GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN, JOE WILSON, South Carolina
Northern Marina Islands GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania
FREDERICA WILSON, Florida TIM WALBERG, Michigan
SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon GLENN GROTHMAN, Wisconsin
MARK TAKANO, California ELISE M. STEFANIK, New York
ALMA S. ADAMS, North Carolina RICK W. ALLEN, Georgia
MARK DeSAULNIER, California JIM BANKS, Indiana
DONALD NORCROSS, New Jersey JAMES COMER, Kentucky
PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington RUSS FULCHER, Idaho
JOSEPH D. MORELLE, New York FRED KELLER, Pennsylvania
SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS, Iowa
LUCY McBATH, Georgia BURGESS OWENS, Utah
JAHANA HAYES, Connecticut BOB GOOD, Virginia
ANDY LEVIN, Michigan, Vice Chairman LISA McCLAIN, Michigan
ILHAN OMAR, Minnesota DIANA HARSHBARGER, Tennessee
HALEY M. STEVENS, Michigan MARY MILLER, Illinios
TERESA LEGER FERNANDEZ, New Mexico VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana
MONDAIRE JONES, New York SCOTT FITZGERALD, Wisconsin
KATHY MANNING, North Carolina MADISON CAWTHORN, North Carolina
FRANK J. MRVAN, Indiana MICHELLE STEEL, California
JAMAAL BOWMAN, New York CHRIS JACOBS, New York
SHEILA CHERFILUS-McCORMICK, Florida VACANCY
MARK POCAN, Wisconsin VACANCY
JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
MIKIE SHERRILL, New Jersey
ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York
KWEISI MFUME, Maryland
Cyrus Artz, Staff Director
Veronique Pluviose, Minority Staff Director
------
SUBCOMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE INVESTMENT
FREDERICA WILSON, Florida, Chairwoman
MARK TAKANO, California MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS, Iowa,
PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington Ranking Member
ILHAN OMAR, Minnesota GLENN GROTHMAN, Wisconsin
TERESA LEGER FERNANDEZ, Minnesota ELISE M. STEFANIK, New York
MONDAIRE JONES, New York JIM BANKS, Indiana
KATHY E. MANNING, North Carolina JAMES COMER, Kentucky
JAMAAL BOWMAN, New York RUSS FULCHER, Idaho
MARK POCAN, Wisconsin BOB GOOD, Virginia
JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas LISA McCLAIN, Michigan
MIKIE SHERRILL, New Jersey DIANA HARSHBARGER, Tennessee
ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana
RAUL M. GRIJALVA, Arizona CHRIS JACOBS, New York
JOE COURTNEY, Connecticut VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina (Ex
SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon Officio)
ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT, Virginia VACANCY
(Ex Officio)
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Hearing held on March 2, 2022.................................... 1
OPENING STATEMENTS
Wilson, Hon. Frederica, Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Higher
Education and Workforce Investment:........................ 1
Prepared statement of.................................... 5
Miller-Meeks, Hon. Mariannette, Ranking Member, Subcommittee
on Higher Education and Workforce Investment:.............. 7
Prepared statement of.................................... 9
WITNESSES
Cruz Rivera, Dr. Jose Luis, President, Northern Arizona
University (NAU)........................................... 11
Prepared statement of.................................... 13
Ramsey, Dr. Patricia, President, Medgar Evers College........ 29
Prepared statement of.................................... 31
Davidson, Dr. Janine, President, Metropolitan State
University of Denver....................................... 40
Prepared statement of.................................... 42
Teranishi, Dr. Robert T., Professor of Education, Morgan and
Helen Chu, Endowed Chair in Asian American Studies......... 51
Prepared statement of.................................... 53
ADDITIONAL SUBMISSIONS
Chairwomen Wilson:
Testimony of Z. Scott, President of Chicago State
University............................................. 89
Foxx, Hon. Virginia, a Representative in Congress from the
State of North Carolina:
Rice University Report................................... 94
Castro, Hon. Joaquin, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Texas:
Testimony dated March 2, 2022, from Dr. Antonio R. Flores 112
QUESTIONS FOR THE RECORD
Responses to questions submitted for the record by:
Dr. Janine Davidson...................................... 115
Dr. Patricia Ramsey...................................... 119
Dr. Jose Luis Cruz Rivera................................ 124
Dr. Robert Teranishi..................................... 130
INVESTING IN ECONOMIC MOBILITY: THE
IMPORTANT ROLE OF HISPANIC SERVING
INSTITUTIONS AND OTHER MINORITY
SERVING INSTITUTIONS
----------
Wednesday, March 2, 2022
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce
Investment,
Committee on Education and Labor,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:17 a.m.,
via Zoom, Hon. Frederica S. Wilson [Chairwoman of the
Subcommittee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Wilson, Takano, Jayapal, Leger
Fernandez, Manning, Bowman, Bonamici, Scott (Ex Officio),
Miller-Meeks, Grothman, Stefanik, Banks, Comer, Fulcher, Good,
Letlow, and Foxx (Ex Officio).
Also present: Representative Adams, North Carolina.
Staff present: Amaris Benavidez, Fellow; Jessica Bowen,
Professional Staff; Rashage Green, Director of Education
Policy; Christian Haines, General Counsel; Alison Hard,
Professional Staff; Rasheedah Hasan, Chief Clerk; Sheila
Havenner, Director of Information Technology; Eli Hovland,
Policy Associate; Ariel Jona, Policy Associate; Stephanie
Lalle, Communications Director; Max Moore, Staff Assistant;
Kayla Pennebecker, Staff Assistant; Veronique Pluviose, Staff
Director; Banyon Vassar, Deputy Director of Information
Technology; Claire Viall, Professional Staff; ArRone
Washington, Clerk; Cyrus Artz, Minority Staff Director; Mini
Ganesh, Minority Staff Assistant; Amy Raaf Jones, Minority
Director of Education and Human Resources Policy; Hannah
Matesic, Minority Director of Member Services and Coalitions;
Audra McGeorge, Minority Communications Director; Eli Mitchell,
Minority Legislative Assistant; Ethan Pann, Minority Press
Assistant; Krystina Skurk, Minority Speechwriter; Chance
Russell, Minority Professional Staff Member; and Mandy
Schaumburg, Minority Chief Counsel and Deputy Director of
Education Policy.
Chairwoman Wilson. Good morning. We are ready to begin. I
will countdown from five and then we will start. Five, four,
three, two, one. The Subcommittee on Higher Education and
Workforce Investment will come to order. Welcome everyone. I
note that a quorum is present. I note for the subcommittee that
Ms. Adams from North Carolina, the Chair and Founding Member of
the HBCU Caucus is present to participate in today's hearing.
She is present with the understanding that her questions
will come only after the members of the subcommittee on both
side of the aisle who are present have had an opportunity to
question the witnesses. The subcommittee is meeting today to
hear testimony on Investing and Economic Mobility, the
Important Role of Hispanic Serving Institutions and Other
Minority Serving Institutions.
This is an entirely remote hearing. All microphones will be
kept muted as a general rule to avoid unnecessary background
noise. Members and witnesses will be responsible for unmuting
themselves when they are recognized to speak, and when they
wish to seek recognition. I also ask that members please
identify themselves before they speak.
Members should keep their cameras on while in the
proceeding. Members shall be considered present in the
proceeding when they are visible on camera, and they shall be
considered not present when they are not visible on camera. The
only exception to this is if they are experiencing technical
difficulty and inform committee staff of such difficulty. If
any member experiences technical difficulty during the hearing,
you should stay connected on the platform, make sure you are
muted, and use your phone to immediately call the committee's
IT director whose number was provided in advance.
Should the Chair experience technical difficulty or need to
step away to vote on the floor, Chairman Scott is hereby
authorized to assume the gavel in the Chair's absence. I will
be stepping away because I have another committee markup going
on now in transportation.
This is an entirely remote hearing and as such the
committee's hearing room is officially closed. Members who
choose to sit with their individual devices in the hearing room
must wear headphones to avoid feedback, echoes and distortion
resulting from more than one person on the software platform
sitting in the same room.
In order to ensure that the committee's 5-minute rule is
adhered to, staff will be keeping track of time using the
committee's field timer. The field timer will appear in its own
thumbnail picture, so there will be a blink to the note of 1-
minute remaining warning. The field timer will show a blinking
light when time is up. Members and witnesses are asked to wrap
up promptly when their time has expired.
Pursuant to Committee Rule, opening statements are limited
to the Chair and the Ranking Member. This allows us to hear
from our witnesses sooner and provide all members with adequate
time to ask questions. I recognize myself now for the purpose
of making an opening statement.
Today I look forward to discussing how Hispanic Serving
Institutions, and other Minority Serving Institutions deliver
on our promise to provide higher education for all. This
discussion is the second in a series of hearings dedicated to
examining the role of universities that are dedicated to
serving underserved students. Before I go further, I want to
address the recent, violent and the horrible threats that have
terrorized HBCU students, faculty, and staff.
Yesterday we received a briefing under the Department of
Justice and Homeland Security that was open to everyone on
their investigation into these hate crimes. I remain committed
to ensuring that the Federal Government holds the perpetrators
accountable for their actions, and that HBCUs and all
institutions receive the support to remain open and safe.
I also look forward to continued hearing from DOJ regarding
their efforts to help keep HBCU campuses and communities safe.
I want to remain in close contact with Members of Congress and
colleges and universities leadership regarding the State of
bomb threats. I remain disgusted and petrified that we did not
have a classified briefing.
Disgusted because as a Member of Congress I am due that. I
earned that. I am petrified because 30 years ago I founded a
mentoring program with 5,000 role models of excellence for boys
of color. I have thousands of young men, HBCUs all over the
country. HBCUs that are receiving death threats, and if
something happens to one of them in an HBCU, I will blame
myself because I sent them there.
I have nightmares. I do not want to call it racism or
discrimination, but what do you say? Black lives do matter,
especially for me, and my 5,000 role model boys, and I am crazy
with anxiety, and so are my thousands of parents. God help us
all.
Today we are focused on Minority Serving Institutions,
including Hispanic Serving Institutions, Predominantly Black
Institutions, and Asian American and Native American, Pacific
Islanders Serving Institutions. These institutions play a key
role in opening the door to higher education, particularly for
students of color, first generation students, and lower income
students.
These institutions provide a low-cost, high-quality post-
secondary education close to home. Importantly, and as I
embrace students from cultural backgrounds and adverse
experiences, honoring ancestors and sustaining tradition, all
serve to signal to students that they belong in college.
I am extremely proud to have five Hispanic Serving
Institutions operating in my district--Broward College, Miami-
Dade College, Barry College, St. Thomas University and Florida
International University. These institutions and other MSIs
across the Nation provide a unique setting that prepares
students for success and service engines of social mobility. We
can see this in significant contributions MSIs make into our
workforce and our economy.
For example, MSIs enroll a high portion of historically
underrepresented students in STEM fields, and they support
these student's academic and economic development. Moreover,
2018 research from the American Council on Education
demonstrates that the economic mobility rate of Predominantly
Black Institutions and Asian American, Native American, Pacific
Islander serving institutions was double compared to other
institutions.
HSIs were even more likely to move students up the income
ladder. Simply put, MSIs enroll more low-income students and
catapult more of those students to the middle class and beyond
compared to other institutions. Unfortunately, MSIs are often
underfunded, under resourced, forcing them to do more with
less.
To be designated as a Minority Serving Institution,
colleges must not only enroll a substantial number of students
of color and must also enroll a substantial number of Pell
students and have fewer resources than their peer institutions.
As a result, MSIs lack access to alternate funding sources that
other institutions rely on, limiting the resources students
need to complete their education.
A 2014 report found that in Fiscal Year 2010 MSIs appeared
on an average of approximately $16,600.00 in for student
revenue compared to nearly $30,000.00 at other institutions. We
know that institutions have more resources, they can provide
high-quality educational opportunities. Investing in MSIs is
even more critical as our higher education system recovers from
the pandemic.
Over the past 2 years, Congress passed the CARES Act and
American Rescue Plan, which delivered more than 26 billion
dollars in dedicated Federal COVID relief aid for MSIs. These
funds help prevent students from experiencing homelessness,
hunger, and other hardships, and provide institutions in my
district with the resources to protect the health and safety of
campus communities.
While these bills provide desperately needed aid to
students in institutions, we have a responsibility to continue
enhancing support for institutions that play an outside role in
fulfilling the promise of our education. I look forward to
working with my colleagues to deliver the sustained investments
that Minority Serving Institutions need to provide high-quality
affordable education for generations to come.
Additionally in the future, we will host a hearing that
showcases the contributions and accomplishments of Tribal
Colleges and Universities, which also play an important role in
the higher education landscape. I want to thank our
distinguished witnesses again for being with us today. I now
yield to the new ranking member, and we welcome her to that
position, Mrs. Miller-Meeks for her opening statement.
I look forward to working with her to support our
institutions of higher education and help every American access
a rewarding career.
Mrs. Miller-Meeks.
[The Statement of Chairwoman Wilson follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mrs. Miller-Meeks. Thank you very much, Chair Wilson, and
thank you for that welcome. I look forward to working with you
as well. Minority Serving Institutions, or MSIs are important
contributors to the post-secondary education landscape. These
institutions should be applauded for providing low-income,
minority, and other disadvantaged students with greater access
to post-secondary education.
Hispanic Serving Institutions, or HSIs, Predominantly Black
Institutions and other MSIs are known for being engines of
upward mobility for millions of students, many of whom may be
first generation college graduates, such as myself. Attending
one of these institutions could be a path for many Americans to
achieve a successful career.
HSIs and MSIs deserve to be supported in this worthwhile
mission. The COVID-19 pandemic put many colleges and
universities through extreme challenges and hardships,
including lower than usual enrollment and financial strain. I
have been impressed to see how some post-secondary institutions
are rising to the occasion in a way that is beneficial to their
students.
We must encourage more colleges and universities to develop
their own strategic plans for holding themselves accountable,
cutting costs, and supporting the students and the institutions
they serve.
Minority Serving Institutions have received a historic
infusion of Federal funds, including 5.5 billion in grants as
part of the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security, or
CARES Act, and the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental
Appropriations Act, and the American Rescue Plan as well, 255
million in mandatory funding from the Fostering Undergraduate
Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education Act.
This being said, relying on Federal funds is inherently
unstable. That is why it is important to encourage these
institutions to be more innovative in the way they use taxpayer
dollars to develop strategic business models and diversify
their revenue stream, and work with the private sector to help
students complete their programs and excel in the workforce.
Colleges and universities have a great opportunity to
prioritize programming that advances their mission. Cutting
back on administrative bloat and extraneous programs and
targeting their investments toward high-impact strategies with
proven outcomes for student success will help these
institutions both stay afloat and drive down the cost of
tuition for their students.
These institutions might also consider refocusing their
course offerings and degree programs to align more closely with
the needs of their workforce, and we will hear about this
today. We are going through a historic labor shortage. While
the importance of the soft skills gained through traditional
higher education cannot be understated, they should be
incorporated into programs that focus on developing
technologies, high-skilled trades and other in demand programs
needed to repair our workforce pipeline.
Making these adjustments will attract more students and
provide better outcomes. More colleges and universities should
focus on helping our Nation's future workers develop the skills
necessary to succeed in today's workforce. With the cost of
college rising, and outcomes not always meeting student's
expectations, we need to institute more transparency in higher
education.
No institution should be exempt from accountability, and
that includes HSIs and MSIs to sponsor access, accountability,
and completion for low-income and minority students seeking
post-secondary education. We must reform the Higher Education
Act to ensure institutions take more responsibility for the
outcomes of their students.
I know President Davidson has engaged I many of these
difficult conversations and has been successful in tackling
these issues head on. I look forward to hearing more from her
in a few minutes. Thank you so much, and I yield back my time
Madam Chair.
[The Statement of Ranking Member Miller-Meeks follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you, Mrs. Miller-Meeks. Without
objection, all of the members who wish to insert written
statements into the record may do so by submitting them to the
committee clerk electronically in Microsoft Word format by 5
p.m. on March 16.
I will now introduce the witnesses. Dr. Jose Luis Cruz
Rivera serves as the 17th President of Northern Arizona
University. Prior to joining NAU he served as President of
Lehman College of the City University of New York. Dr. Cruz
Rivera received his BS Degree from the University of Puerto
Rico and MS and PhD from Georgia Institute of Technology.
Welcome.
Dr. Patricia Ramsey serves as the sixth President of Medgar
Evers College, a constituent college of the City University of
New York. She is the first woman and first scientist to be
appointed President of the institution. Dr. Ramsey received her
BS from Norfolk State University, her MA from Howard
University, and her PhD from Georgetown University.
Dr. Janine Davidson has served as President of Metropolitan
State University of Denver since 2017. Prior to her time at MSU
Denver, Davidson served as the 32d Under Secretary of the
United States Navy. Dr. Davidson is a graduate of the
University of Colorado Boulder, and the University of South
Carolina.
Dr. Robert Teranishi is a Professor of Social Science and
Comparative Education and Director for the Institute for
Immigration Globalization and Education at UCLA. He also serves
as the APIA Scholar and AANAPISI steering committee. He
received his BA from US Santa Cruz and his MA and PhD from
UCLA.
To the witnesses we appreciate the witnesses for
participating today, and we look forward to your testimony. Let
me remind the witnesses that we have read your written
statements and they will appear in full in the hearing record.
Pursuant to Committee Rule 8(d) and committee practice, each of
you is asked to limit your oral presentation to a 5-minute
summary of your written statement.
Before you begin your testimony, please remember to unmute
your microphone. During your testimony staff will be keeping
track of time and a light will blink when time is up. Please be
attentive to the time.
Wrap up when your time is over and re-mute your microphone.
If any of you experience technical difficulty during your
testimony, or later in the hearing, you should stay connected
on the platform.
Make sure you are muted and use your phone to immediately
call the committee's IT director whose number was provided to
you in advance. We will let all of the witnesses make their
presentations before we move to member questions. When
answering a question please remember to unmute your microphone.
The witnesses are aware of their responsibility to provide
accurate information to the subcommittee, and therefore we will
now proceed with their testimony. I will first recognize Dr.
Rivera.
STATEMENT OF DR. JOSE LUIS CRUZ RIVERA, PRESIDENT, NORTHERN
ARIZONA UNIVERSITY, FLAGSTAFF, AZ
Dr. Cruz Rivera. Buenos Dias, and Good Morning Chairwoman
Wilson, Ranking Member Miller-Meeks, and members of the
committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you
this morning. My name is Jose Luis Cruz Rivera, and I am the
President of Northern Arizona University, whose mountain campus
in the city of Flagstaff sits at the base of the San Francisco
peaks, a homeland sacred to Native Americans throughout the
region, who have lived here for millennium, and will forever
call these lands home.
Today I come before you to make the case for increased
investments in HSIs because of who these institutions serve,
how well they serve them, and the individual and collective
benefits these investments can generate for the people of the
United States of America.
The investments I am advocating for are urgently needed to
eradicate two very sad realities. The first is that today
students from high-income families are approximately five times
as likely as students from low-income families to obtain a
bachelor's degree by the age of 24.
The second is that today only 40 out of every 100 White
kindergarteners are expected to get a bachelor's degree in
their lifetime, and that alarmingly this number drops by half
for Black kids and one-third for Latino and Native American
children. It is my position that by increasing Federal
investments in HSIs you can accelerate the progress needed to
eradicate the educational inequities that have led to this
current State of affairs.
Here are three reasons why I believe investing in HSIs can
help us expand the number of students who can receive the
equitable access and support services they need to complete
quality affordable credentials that will offer them increased
economic mobility and will offer the Nation broader economic
disparity.
First, in addition to enrolling two-thirds of the 3.8
million Hispanic students in college today, HSIs also enroll
large percentages of other students of color, and large
percentages of those with financial need, that is HSIs serves
most of its student in our country who today have the last, but
who tomorrow contribute the most to resurrect a strong middle
class.
Second, while severely under resourced, HSIs have proven
they can propel large numbers of students into the middle class
and beyond. In fact, today each and every one of the top ten
colleges and universities that offer the most economic mobility
to the United States and HSI.
Recent studies suggest that addressing education inequities
head on bring significant value to both individuals and society
at large, specifically, if equity gaps in attainment were close
today the Nation could see nearly one trillion dollars added to
the economy annually. It stands to reason then that additional
support for HSIs can pave the way for advancing equity, more
economic mobility, and broader economic prosperity in America.
To this end my written testimony presents five policy
recommendations. No. 1, align financial aid with the needs of
the increasingly diverse students attending HSIs. Let us double
Pell. No. 2, maximize impact by increasing per student
investments in HSIs, HBCUs and other MSIs.
Let us invest equitably in the future of all of those who
choose to retire. No. 3, incentivize the use of evidence-based
practices to boost student outcomes at HSIs. We know what works
we just need the funding to make it happen. No. 4, bolster the
physical, virtual and research infrastructure at HSI. All
students be served a safe and modern environment conducive to
learning.
No. 5, improve data transparency and invest in P-12
teachers. We need data to identify opportunities and keep
ourselves accountable. We need strong P-12 teachers to
cultivate post-secondary aspirations in their students and
produce college ready students.
In closing, please note that Northern Arizona University
welcomes the opportunity to work with you, and other
institutions and policymakers across the country to ensure that
our higher education system works for all who aspire to meet
their full potential. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Cruz Rivera follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairwoman Wilson. We will now hear from Dr. Ramsey, thank
you.
STATEMENT OF DR. PATRICIA RAMSEY, PRESIDENT, MEDGAR EVERS
COLLEGE, BROOKLYN, NY
Dr. Ramsey. I would like to thank Hon. Chairman Bobby Scott
and Ranking Member Virginia Foxx of the Committee on Education
and Labor, Subcommittee Chair Frederica Wilson and Ranking
Member Miller-Meeks of the Subcommittee on Higher Education and
Workforce Investment for the invitation to testify today about
PBIs.
My name is Patricia Ramsey, and I am the sixth President of
Medgar Evers College, and as you heard from the Chair the first
woman to be in that position. I have been here only about a
year now, but I have spent 25 years as an administrator at
HBCUs. I have earned the degree at an HBCU that is in Chairman
Scott's area of the country in Virginia.
I am proud to serve as the President of Medgar Evers
College, a college born out of advocacy in the Black community
of central Brooklyn, birthed with social justice in its DNA,
named for Civil Rights leader Medgar Wiley Evers, a college in
the City University of New York, the Nation's leading urban
public university led by Chancellor Felix Rodriguez, and serves
more than 275 degree-seeking students and 25 colleges, 18 of
which are MSIs, two PDI's, Medgar Evers College and New York
College.
Central Brooklyn where Medgar Evers is located is a low-
income area, and one of the hardest hit communities during the
COVID-19 pandemic, 85 percent of our students are Black, and
most of them come from Brooklyn. At Medgar Evers we believe
that education can positively transform lives.
PBIs like Medgar Evers often are confused with HBCUs,
however they are not HBCUs. There is a difference. You cannot
be an HBCU and a PBI at the same time. Medgar Evers College,
although it was actually founded in 1970, is not an HBCU
because it was not founded before 1964.
In the PBIs we have first generation college students. It
has to be 50 percent of people who are in low-income as well as
it has to a minimum of 40 percent in the African American
group.
The graduation rate--how graduation rates are determined by
the Federal Government in my opinion it is very flawed.
Graduation rates are currently defined by the U.S. Department
of Education as a measure of the cohort of first semester,
degree-seeking undergraduate students that complete their
requirements and within 150 percent of normal completion time.
If it takes a bachelor's degree seeking student any factor
more than 6 years, the student is not counted. Also, students
who transfer from one school to another, students that started
the spring rather than the fall, and students who began
matriculation part-time are not counted in graduation rates.
Therefore, institutions with the neediest students, such as
PBIs have hundreds of students who graduate but are not counted
in the graduation rate. Therefore, these institutions are not
viewed as a good return on investment. Institutions such as
Medgar Evers College is No. 2 in CUNY of producing graduates
with science degrees.
Since many funders use graduation rates to determine all
the institution's success, institutions like Medgar Evers
College are denied funding based on faulty assumptions,
therefore the Federal definition of graduation rates need to
change. PBIs provide underserved and under-represented
communities with significant access to higher education, and
similarly experience funding challenges.
In 2021, PBIs served approximately 290,000 students and
were allocated only 28 million through this funding for
predominant Black institution program, which amounts to only
about $96.00 per PBI student. In Fiscal Year 2022 it increased
to about $138.00 per PBI student.
PBIs consist of undergrads that are low-income, and these
students are--institutions that experience things such as
housing insecurity and--housing instability, I am sorry, and
food insecurity, and these students are not able to be able to
provide for themselves, and therefore are not in good health.
At the forefront of your thinking, I want you to think
about funding for the PBIs, and I would like to thank you so
much because PBIs strengthen this Nation, and I am open to
questions. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Ramsey follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you so much, Dr. Ramsey. Now we
will hear from Dr. Davidson.
STATEMENT OF DR. JANINE DAVIDSON, PRESIDENT, METROPOLITAN STATE
UNIVERSITY OF DENVER, DENVER, CO
Dr. Davidson. Thank you. Thank you, Chairman Scott, Ranking
Member Foxx, Subcommittee Chairwoman Wilson, Subcommittee
Ranking Member Miller-Meeks, and all the members of the
committee for the opportunity to testify today. Thank you for
your service to our Nation.
I am Janine Davidson, President of Metropolitan State
University of Denver which is Colorado's largest Hispanic
Serving Institution with over 17,500 undergraduate, and
graduate students, 5,400 of whom are Latino. I am actually
considered a non-traditional President.
I started my career as an Air Force pilot, and then
returned to school for a Ph.D. Did a short stint as a professor
before being pulled back into government service in the
Pentagon. I came to MSU Denver in 2017 following my service as
the 32d Undersecretary of the U.S. Navy.
I am a proud product of America's public education system
from kindergarten to the completion of my Ph.D. I was supported
by the generous investment of the American taxpayer, and I am
most grateful for that investment, which I believe humbly, that
I have more than repaid through my 30 plus years of academic
military and civilian service.
Returning to higher ed as a university President, I learned
that this path, which is my path, is now out of reach for so
many students today. Whereas 70 percent of college costs were
covered by public funding when I was in school, today only 20
to 30 percent of the costs are, and this means that students
pay higher tuition, and faculty and staff pedal much faster to
try to keep the price tag affordable.
In light of this challenge, I was actually thrilled by the
opportunity to lead a university like MSU Denver. Like other
MSIs, our university reflects the historic promise of America's
public higher education system at a time when such opportunity
seems to be slipping away.
MSU Denver is holding a line in the American Dream, and to
be clear, it is not that easy. Today I would like to highlight
for you what real college is like for the vast majority of
Americans today compared to the old-fashioned somewhat country
club like version that is only available today to a privileged
minority.
Let me start by sharing some illuminating numbers real
quick. More than 50 percent of our students are people of
color, one-third are Latino, 58 percent are first in their
family to go to college. More than half transfer in from
community college, or another 4-year university. 80 percent
work 20 to 40 hours a week and have families to feed. The
average age of our student is 25.
30 percent of our students qualified for Federal Pell
grants to help pay for education. The point I am making here is
that today's typical college student is not an 18-year-old high
school graduate who has the time and the money to go full-time
to get in and out in 4 years.
They juggle families and jobs, they start and stop, they go
for a time. In fact, the average course load for MSU Denver is
only 11 credit hours, just shy of that full-time definition,
but they persist. In recognizing these realities, we are
committed to providing an educational experience that fits into
their complex lives, versus trying to force them to pause their
paths and their work lives to accommodate some sort of rigid
out of date linear system.
We also want the student and government investment to be
relevant to the real world and their career goals, and we do
this by helping students chart their path, economically and
academically, combining Pell grants and scholarships allows 40
percent of MSU Denver's students to go tuition free.
Our average student loan debt for graduates is $25,000.00
and nearly 25 percent of our graduates have zero debt. We focus
on programs with proven outcomes that provide the winning
combination advising financial assistance and leadership,
community building, to ensure these students get over the
finish line.
We are working to keep school relevant by partnering
directly with industry to develop career relevant curricula and
provide students with work-based learning opportunities before
graduation. This working while learning is super important
today as LinkedIn reports that ironically close to 60 percent
of entry level jobs for holders of bachelor's degrees require 3
years of experience.
MSU Denver is aligning academic programs with the critical
needs of Colorado and the Nation, from cybersecurity and
aerospace to advanced manufacturing health professions and
public service. Our partnerships with employer's help build our
Nation's current pipeline with graduates who are ready to hit
the ground running on their career.
Preparing the next generation of Americans is not just a
two-way partnership, the Federal Government I think has a
critical role to pay in ensuring that we capture this moment to
chart the course. I respectfully offer five specific
suggestions. First, let us change the narrative.
Telling Americans that college is irrelevant to their
prosperity or simply out of reach will deter the next
generation from preparing themselves for this complex
socioeconomic arena, further fueling our Nation's decline in
the 21st Century knowledge-based interconnected global economy.
It is just not true.
In Colorado more than 75 percent of jobs require post-
secondary education. No. 2, go ahead and keep simplifying the
FAFSA. We commend Congress for passing FAFSA simplification in
the last session. At MSU Denver we literally waste time and
scare scholars helping students fill out that form to confirm
that they are poor.
Anything that you can do to double down on Pell will help
enhancing work study for students, and accounting for metrics
that matter as Doctor Ramsey pointed out, are all things that I
totally agree with. In short, I thank you for the meaningful
investments you have made in HSIs and for inviting me to share
my perspective with you today.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Davidson follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you so much, Dr. Davidson. Now we
will hear from Dr. Teranishi.
STATEMENT OF DR. ROBERT TERANISHI, PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION,
MORGAN AND HELEN CHU, ENDOWED CHAIR IN ASIAN AMERICAN STUDIES,
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES, WHITTIER, CA
Dr. Teranishi. Committee Chairman Scott, Subcommittee
Chairwoman Wilson, Ranking Member Miller-Meeks, and the
distinguished members of the subcommittee, it is an honor for
me to join you today to discuss findings from my research on
AANAPISIs.
I want to begin by talking about the ways in which the
relevance of AANAPISIs, and I will emphasize is directly tied
to the significant demographic change we are experiencing in
our Nation. We are seeing a shifting demographic landscape
where minorities will be half the population in the U.S. by
2045.
We have already reached that tipping point in our K to 12
public schools where minority enrollments surpassed white
enrollment in 2018, and that is the fastest growing racial
group in the U.S.
The AAPI population is a significant contributor to the
shifting demographic landscape of our Nation. It is also
important to recognize the diverse demographic makeup of the
AAPI population. The racial category consists of 48 different
ethnic groups with wide variation and immigration histories,
cultures, and religions.
Despite a perception of universal high academic
achievement, the significant differences in educational
attainment rates of AAPI and subgroups. For example,
approximately half of southeast Asian and Pacific Islander
college students leave without earning a degree.
This is an attrition rate that is three to five times
greater than east Asians and south Asians. It is a particularly
disturbing demographic trend that is pointing to a downward
intergeneration ability within the NHPI community, that's the
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community.
This includes a decline in NHPI college enrollment, and a
decline in degree attainment rates. AANAPISIs are important
because it is the most marginalized and vulnerable AAPI
students, and the institutions that serve them, that benefit
the most from the program. In fact, a CRS study found that
AANAPISIs enrolled three quarters of all low-income AAPI
students.
A significant portion of these students are the first in
their families to attend college. We found that AANAPISIs are
an important cite for innovation.
AANAPISIs are using their funding to pursue effective
practices related to the delivery of student service,
curricular and academic program development, leadership and
mentorship opportunities, and faculty and staff development.
De Anza College for example, used their grant to develop
impact AAPI, which was a learning community that paired
developmental English with an AAPI literature course, and
included wrap around support services with an embedded
counselor.
Our research, which compared the outcomes of impact to HSI
students where characteristically similar students were not in
the program, found that the program increased the likelihood
that students that have passed their developmental course, and
transitioned from developmental to college level English.
Program participants were also more like to earn an
associate degree and accomplish this in less time. These
findings help to inform an effort by De Anza to bring to scale
and institutionalize these grant funded activities.
The UNLV is using part of their AANAPISIs grant to focus on
evaluating and improving how they collect and report data on
their AAPI students.
This is noteworthy considering the extent to which
disaggregated data is critical for revealing differences
between the AAPI sub-groups, with regards to their access to
and utilization of services, as well as disparities and
persistence and degree of attainment.
This is perhaps one of the most important civil rights
issues for the AAPI community because aggregated data is
rendering the most marginalized vulnerable groups invisible.
Improvements to UNLV's data systems and practices will serve as
a model for the rest of institutions within the Nevada System
of Higher Education, as well as for the broader field higher
education.
Perhaps the most significant challenge for AANAPISIs is the
inadequate level of funding available for eligible
institutions. The current level of funding for example has
resulted in 30 AANAPISIs receiving grants in 2020 and 2021,
that is only 18 percent of the eligible institutions.
A higher level of funding will result in an exponential
increase in the number of students that would benefit from
these resources, and additional investment in AANAPISIs and
other MSIs would result in more opportunities to expand,
replicate, and bring to scale innovative grant funded
activities.
To this point greater funding for MSIs is also an
opportunity to harness the research capabilities of a growing
number of research intensive MSIs, which include 17 HSIs that
are classified as R1. I want to thank the committee for
including me in what I believe to be a historic occasion for
AANAPISIs.
To the best of my knowledge this is the first time there is
been a substantial focus on AANAPISIs in a congressional
hearing on higher education. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Teranishi follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you. Under Committee Rule 9(a), we
will now question witnesses under the 5-minute rule. I will be
recognizing subcommittee members in seniority order. Again, to
ensure that the member's 5-minute rule is adhered to, staff
will be keeping track of time, and the time will show a
blinking light when time has expired. Please be attentive to
the time, wrap up when your time is over, and remove, re-mute
your microphone, and please excuse my voice.
As Chair, I now recognize myself for 5 minutes. Medgar
Evers has a long history of serving Black students, and
currently serve a student population that is 82 percent Black.
Dr. Ramsey what is unique about the Black Predominantly Black
Institution campus environment that contributes to the
enrollment and completion of Black students?
Dr. Ramsey. Thank you for that question. Medgar Evers
College, located in Central Brooklyn, in a community of low-
income students, is very unique in that many of our students
come to us where they have not even finished high school and
have come in with a GED, and we wrap the services around them
to help them to actually be able to be successful.
A great example of this is a gentleman who came in with a
GED, and now he has a PhD, I am sorry a doctorate in social
work from a very prestigious institution, and because of that
decided to come back and work with students such as himself. We
wrap services around these students, so that those students can
be successful.
One of the things that we would love to be able to do is to
wrap more services around because it is a lot more costly to be
able to do that. Thank you. You are muted.
Chairwoman Wilson. A college degree has become increasingly
essential to accessing new jobs and sustaining wages. While not
every student may want to pursue a college degree, I hope we
can all agree everyone should have the opportunity to get a
strong job. Dr. Cruz Rivera can you share with us the mission
of Northern Arizona University and its impact on socio and
economic mobility for your students?
Dr. Cruz Rivera. Thank you, Madam Chair. The Northern
Arizona University has a 122-year history of serving first
generation low-income students, Native American students,
Hispanic students, students from all walks of life. Up to
recent times the mission has been very much about expanding
opportunity and solving the region's problems.
If we look toward the future, we recognize that we need to
do more, and so we are currently instituting a strategic
planning effort that will hold us accountable for ensuring that
we are putting the support services in place and expanding
opportunity and broadening participation so that students that
look more like the State of Arizona are actually getting an
opportunity at NAU to meet their full potential.
To that end, we are really focusing all of our work around
the concept of equitable post-secondary value. We want to
ensure that our students have everything they need, so that
once they graduate, they are well-positioned for very good
paying careers, and/or further study. We will be measuring our
success in terms of the success of our students post college
graduation.
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you. Dr. Ramsey, PBIs and other
MSIs not only provide a high-quality education, but also thrive
at meeting the unique needs of their students. How might we
best evaluate the full impact of an MSI education?
Dr. Ramsey. Well, I think we need to look at it very
holistically. The students that we receive are students that
are coming from underserved areas. Many of the students have
housing instability and food insecurity. The students at my
institutions for example family income is less than $35,000.00
a year.
They need a number of supports. What we have been trying to
do is to put some things in place to be able to support these
students, and so hopefully I have responded to your question
appropriately. I saw that my timer was not quite at 5 minutes.
Mr. Scott. Madam Chair, you are on mute.
Chairwoman Wilson. I am telling you I am not good. I am not
good at all, not today. I will now recognize the ranking member
for the purpose of questioning the witnesses.
Mrs. Miller-Meeks.
Mrs. Miller-Meeks. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Doctor
Davidson in your testimony you mentioned that today's college
students are not the typical 18-year-old high school graduates
that are looking to complete their degree in 4 years. I know
that well as being an older student and going to medical
school.
They are largely non-traditional students coming from all
walks of life, often with some post-secondary education
experience, and likely balancing other responsibilities such as
working one or two jobs in addition to their studies. As such,
it seems as if our post-secondary education system is failing
as it is modeled after serving a student population that is not
reflective of this current landscape.
How should institutions adapt to this reality and meet
students where they are in their lives rather than where they
think they should be, or they have been in the past?
Dr. Davidson. Thank you very much for that question
Representative Miller-Meeks. It is absolutely true that our
students do not fit that full-time 4 year stop full on model.
Most of our students are working 30 to 40 hours a week, and
what we think that higher education needs to adapt to fit their
zig-zagging and complicated lives.
Ways that you can do that is to No. 1, partner with
industry to make that work experience that they are already
doing toward their career. If you are flipping pizzas, maybe
you should get an internship instead with an industry that you
are thinking about working in as you move along. Higher
education needs to adapt its curriculum, so that needs to
partner with an industry left of that graduation timeline so
that the students can have that relevant experience along the
way.
Another thing that we do is we have to change the way we
talk about college. If you are coming to college and you have
you know two kids and a full-time job, and you have plotted it
out so that you can afford it, and you can get through in four,
five, 6 years, but you are constantly being told that you are
behind the normal timeline, that is very sort of demoralizing
for our students. We need to chart the courses that fit into
their lives as opposed to the other way around.
Mrs. Miller-Meeks. It sounds like my father when you talked
about the school of hard knocks taking 20 years to get to a
bachelor's degree. What are some other Federal policy changes
that could be made to help bolster reforms that institutions
are making to meet the demands of today's students?
Dr. Davidson. Yes, you know, thank you for that too. You
know we try really hard to be efficient, and one of the biggest
inefficiencies ironically is that FAFSA process. Anything that
we can do to simplify that process will allow me, as the
President, to put resources on the things that matter, on those
high-impact practices that get students over that finish line.
We spend a lot of time and staff and funding actually
helping students fill out a form just to prove that they are
poor. I think we can do better as a Nation, and not leave that
funding on the table for those. Another thing that I think is
really important is anything we can do to enhance and grow Work
Study. As you can tell I am really passionate about this idea
that students have an experiential learning opportunity with
industry that is career focused.
Anything you can do to expand that opportunity for students
would also be very, very helpful.
Mrs. Miller-Meeks. I found that in your testimony that you
had given, and having been a nurse prior to becoming a
physician, I saw the shortage in healthcare professionals
before COVID-19, and now due to COVID-19. As a physician
myself, I can speak firsthand to the challenges healthcare
providers face, and it is important that, as we recover from
the pandemic, that we improve our healthcare workforce
pipeline.
In your testimony you mentioned how MSU is scaling up its
college of health and applied sciences to fill the gaps in our
healthcare talent pipeline. Can you elaborate on what the
scaling up looks like, and what MSU is doing to recruit and
retain students?
Dr. Davidson. Absolutely. Even before the pandemic we knew
that healthcare was in a bit of a crisis. Lots of students who
want to be nurses for example, huge demand for nurses. The log
jam is higher education. We cannot get that through put.
Unfortunately, the log jam inside the log jam is
infrastructure. What we are doing is we are trying to partner
with industry, and also with our State House and donors to
really build out our infrastructure for our nursing and our
health institute professions.
Having some nursing simulation labs will allow us to double
the number of nurses that get through our program. I do not
have to tell you, but for every physician there are 16 other
professions that are required, and we are focusing on those in
an integrated way as well with our health institute.
Mrs. Miller-Meeks. Thank you so much for that and I thank
all the witnesses for their testimony. Chair Wilson, I yield
back my time.
Chairwoman Wilson. We will now take questions from the
members. We have Mr. Takano of California. You may now question
the witness.
Mr. Takano. Thank you, Madam Chair. I am very thankful for
this opportunity to speak about the tremendous work our
Hispanic Serving Institutions, and other Minority Serving
Institutions have done in expanding the access to underserve
communities. In my own district I am proud of the work that
University of California Riverside has done to improve the
success of low-income, first generation students, many of
whom--actually most of whom are students of color.
My first question is for Dr. Teranishi. It is my
understanding sir that you testified in Congress before 2007 in
support of creating AANAPISIs. Why is it important to designate
a Minority Serving Institution's designation in order to better
serve Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander
students?
Dr. Teranishi. Thank you, Representative Takano, and thank
you for highlighting the important work that is happening at UC
Riverside. The thing that is really important about the
AANAPISI program is it is rightfully aligning the AAPI
community alongside their other minority population
counterparts, right?
It is a signal that a lot of the AAPI students have unique
needs and challenges, and that there is a role that the Federal
Government can play in providing resources to address these
kinds of unique needs and challenges. It is noteworthy that
despite the common perception that AAPIs are all enrolling in
the highest, or the most selective universities in the Nation,
the highest concentration of enrollment can actually be found
in community colleges.
This is something the AANAPISI program helps bring
attention to. The funding in an AANAPISI program is largely
going to community colleges, and so it is raising awareness
about those students and their needs, as well as the unique
needs and challenges of the institutions that serve them.
Mr. Takano. Well, thank you Dr. Teranishi. I personally
know that it is important for AAPIs to not be seen as
monolithic, and that it is important to understand that there
are broad differences among the sub-ethnicities. AANAPISIs use
grant funding to expand student support services by
incorporating culturally relevant curriculum, academic
counseling, mentorship. Can you share with the committee some
of the best examples from your research of how AANAPISI funding
has been implemented to better support students?
Dr. Teranishi. Yes, I like your point about the hopefully
relevant practices. What it is doing is it is recognizing who
the students are on the campus, what are their unique needs and
challenges, and then how to apply you know best practices to
address those unique needs and challenges.
They have been doing a lot of work around curriculum,
pedagogy the delivery of services that are addressing a lot of
the ways that is a gap and the extent to which AAPI students
have been included and are addressed or even seen in terms of
the prior curriculum. Like, I liked the discussion earlier
about, you know, we are serving a fundamentally different
student body today, and AAPIs are an important part of this
changing topography.
Mr. Takano. Well sir, how have AANAPISIs served Asian
American, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders in more targeted
ways?
Dr. Teranishi. Well, we have been looking at a range of
things we have been doing, and I think the common denominators
that they are really trying to understand who their students
are. It is not just a matter of enrolling more AAPI students,
or having a critical mass of AAPI enrollment, but it is how do
we serve them and address their unique needs and challenges. We
are seeing that across a lot of the AANAPISIs, and it is
working. We are seeing a rise in persistence rates, you know
more credits attempted, higher GPA's and better outcomes in
terms of transfer rates to community colleges, 4-year
institutions, as well as degree attainment rates.
Mr. Takano. Well, that is so important with regard to
community college completion and retention. I want to thank the
Madam Chairman for the time for the questions, and I yield
back.
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you. Now we will have questioning
from Ranking Member Foxx.
Ms. Foxx. Thank you very much Madam Chair, and I thank the
witnesses for being here. Dr. Davidson in your testimony you
mentioned that the conversations and rhetoric around higher ed
are often misguided. We agree. And I think one needs to look no
further than the rhetoric surrounding student debt.
Proponents of debt cancellation often paint a misleading
picture that looks much different than the reality encountered
by borrowers. My concern is this may cause some students not to
pursue post-secondary education out of fear they will end up
with hundreds of thousands of debt they cannot afford.
I think it would be useful for members on our committee if
you could help separate fact from fiction when it comes to
student debt, particularly as it pertains to students at MSU.
What is the average student debt for students at your
institution?
Dr. Davidson. Representative Foxx, thank you for that
question. The average student debt for students who have any
debt at all is about $25,000.00.
Ms. Foxx. Oh, $25,000, Okay. What would the monthly payment
for an average borrower be on that?
Dr. Davidson. I am not exactly sure what the exact monthly
payment would be, but I can round that up for you.
Ms. Foxx. Okay great. Then I am sure you are aware that if
they were unable to afford that monthly payment, they have the
option to enroll in an income driven and payment plan to help
lower that payment, right?
Dr. Davidson. Correct.
Ms. Foxx. Correct. What other conversations around higher
education do you see as particularly harmful or inaccurate, and
can you discuss the harms that such faulty rhetoric may impose
for perspective students? What is MSU doing to push back on
these narratives, and ensure that they do not deter perspective
students from pursuing a college degree?
Dr. Davidson. Certainly, you know the first thing is about
the debt. The headlines that say $100,000.00 and $200,000.00
debilitating debt really, I think deters many students from
even opening up the application and thinking about college,
when it is actually really based on medical school, law school,
veterinary, dental, we know that drives the numbers up.
What we are trying to do is reach out to students and say
``listen, it is more affordable than you think. Come talk to
us. Come to our website. Gamify your experience.'' That is
super important, that is the debt piece. The other negative
narrative that is out there is this narrative that not
everybody should go--or can go--to college. Now, I recognize
that there are plenty of opportunities out there for people in
vocational experiences, but you know 75 percent of the jobs in
Colorado require a post-secondary degree. We know that to be
true.
By telling students that college is not worth it, that is
too unaffordable, that it is too out of reach deters them from
even stepping through the door. We really need to change that
narrative. It needs to happen from everywhere in order to
encourage students to pursue their dreams.
Ms. Foxx. Thank you. Dr. Davidson, I have long been
frustrated with the fact that the students unable to go
complete their degree perhaps due to unforeseen life
experiences beyond their control have nothing to show for the
hard work, the financial commitment they made when they
enrolled.
How can institutions and Federal policy adapt to allow for
a post-secondary education system that allows students to earn
some sort of credential as they progress through their program,
as opposed to leaving them burdened by student debt without a
degree if they are forced to pause their studies?
Dr. Davidson. Yes, I think there are at least two ways that
we can help students in this regard. One is industry approved
stackable credentials where along the way they get badges for
things that they have done. They can put those on their resume,
and that can help them in the job market, which can help them
pay off any loans that they might have and maybe come back.
The other thing that we are doing here in Colorado is
called reverse transfer. Let us say a student starts their
journey here with us, and then something like that happens. If
they have gotten enough credits racked up to give them an
associate degree, we partner with the community colleges, so
that they can get a reverse transfer.
At least get an associate degree on their way to their
bachelor's if they have to pause out.
Ms. Foxx. Right, right. You know your Governor was on this
committee and we got along famously. I have not talked to him
since he became Governor, but he has a lot of great ideas on
education. Madam Chair, before I yield back, I ask unanimous
consent to introduce a study from Rice University.
I want to note that while the Biden administration is
currently undergoing negotiated rulemaking process to develop
new rules that will unfairly target proprietary schools, for-
profits also provide valuable educational opportunities to the
students they serve, including low-income, disadvantaged and
minority.
This recent study from Rice found that attending the
College of Healthcare Professionals, a proprietary school in
Texas, graduated at a rate of 78 percent. They had a job
placement rate of 80 percent and graduated and then had 300
percent earnings increase compared to the pre-graduation rate.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Chairwoman Wilson. Now we will hear from Ms. Leger
Fernandez, New Mexico. Welcome.
Ms. Leger Fernandez. Thank you so much, Madam Chair. I
really did appreciate our witnesses highlighting the importance
of having that additional post-secondary degree, and that in so
many ways our job here in Congress is to create the
opportunity, right? As we build a better America, we need to
make sure that we are creating the opportunities so all of our
students can realize the possibility of their dreams, right?
I would also point out that every single public higher
education institution in New Mexico is a Minority Serving
Institution. In my district alone there are nine Hispanic
Serving Institutions, three Tribal Colleges, and two
universities and institutions that serve predominantly Native
Americans.
These are institutions that help push their students up the
income ladder at graduation, especially those from low-income
families. I want to give a shoutout to New Mexico Highlands
University, one of the HSIs in my district. It was ranked 19th
in the Nation by Brookings Institute for boosting student's
social mobility and earnings, and I know first-hand that it
does that because Senator Ben Ray Lujan attended Highlands.
My father, mother, and three of my brothers graduated from
Highlands. I know what a difference a place like Highlands can
make. We also have a lot of community colleges, HSIs in my
district. We know that there are unique benefits that go along
with a community college, lower tuition and fees, and greater
flexibility for non-traditional students.
Dr. Cruz Rivera, as we work toward lifting up students, and
we look to HSIs to support them, what can we do to ensure that
community colleges, along with our 4-year universities receive
the Federal investments that they need to properly educate and
serve their students?
Dr. Cruz Rivera. Thank you, Congresswoman. I think there
are a lot of things that Congress can do to help ensure that
our community college partners have the resources they need to
advance the college going aspirations of their students and do
so in a way that will allow them to transfer seamlessly into 4-
year institutions.
May I suggest that the broad majority of students that
enter community colleges do have an aspiration to go to a 4-
year college to get a degree. There are a couple of things
there.
One is ensuring that we are funding the community colleges
adequately on a fair student basis, and we have the resources
to perhaps add value to the fact that many of these students
have been short-changed in their P-12 education, but yet have a
lot of potential, so they need to add value to lift them so
that they can then not only have the aspirations, but the
preparation to move on to a 4-year college.
Then we have to make sure that the 4-year colleges have the
tools they need to create seamless pathways for those students
and can received them and socialize them and provide them the
support they need to move forward. At NAU, we are very proud of
the fact that we have a very structured relationship with the
ten community colleges across the State of Arizona.
We have programs where we are collaborated with the
community colleges in rural Arizona and the students can stay
there and do a two plus two bachelor's degree or maybe 90
credit hours at the community college and 30 credit hours at
NAU and get that 4 year degree, or perhaps transfer to the
Flagstaff campus into programs that are available only at our
flagship institution.
Funding for the students, and funding for the institutions
so that they can provide the right program for their students.
Ms. Leger Fernandez. Parity, I think that that is a really
important point that you made because often times it actually
costs more to recruit the teachers to those rural schools,
right? You have to offer them a bit more. Sometimes it is not
parity, but actually enticing.
Also, I know that HSIs and MSIs play a big role in helping
with our labor shortage gaps. New Mexico, we have 1,000 open
teaching positions. We have great need of nurses. We are all
hearing about that. Can you share quickly because I am running
out of time, how Minority Serving Institutions or HSIs can help
address that need, those shortages?
Dr. Cruz Rivera. We need to make sure that we expand access
to these opportunities to teach in our states, in our rural
communities, in a culturally relevant way. One way to do that
is, for example, the Arizona Teacher's Academy that will pay
students for their tuition and fee, as long as they commit to
serving the students of Arizona upon graduation.
This is really important given that of course the debt
levels of our students when they enter into important fields,
maybe not be the highest paying, it needs to be considered.
Subsidizing them, and then making sure that they have the
incentive to stay and serve the people of their State.
Ms. Leger Fernandez. Muchisimas gracias. I yield back.
Dr. Cruz Rivera. Muchas gracias.
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you very much. Now Representative
Fulcher, welcome.
Mr. Fulcher. Thank you, Madam Chair, and I do have a few
questions. Just the first one is for Dr. Davidson. Dr.
Davidson, continuing on with the discussion about the cost of
college. Today the government has moved into the position of
being the predominant source of student loans, and you can make
a pretty strong argument that the availability of those
guaranteed loans have contributed to the cost of education and
increasing tuition.
At MSU you have had some pretty good success at keeping a
low tuition, or relative low tuition rate. My question is two-
fold. One is how has MSU been able to keep their tuition rates
relatively low, and second, should the government get out of
the loan business?
Dr. Davidson. The No. 1 thing that has driven up the price
tag of higher education in public universities is the steady
disinvestment by the State. Like I said in my testimony, when I
was in college 70 percent of the cost was taken by the State,
and 30 percent was tuition, and now it is basically flipped.
You can make a chicken and egg argument there about loans,
having come to fill those gaps. I think anything the Federal
Government can do to help keep higher education affordable is
an incredible investment in the future of our democracy.
Mr. Fulcher. Okay. Thank you for that. I will read into
that the way I would like to interpret it but thank you. I am
going to shift gears just a little bit and talk about free
speech a little bit. There has been a pretty significant
increase in speech codes around the country, various
institutions, other types of squelching of free speech.
How are you handling that? What is MSU doing? Forgive me, I
had to pop up just long enough I missed a piece of your
testimony, so if you have covered it forgive me, but please
address that for me.
Dr. Davidson. Thank you for that question, Representative
Fulcher. Free speech is something I am actually very passionate
about, something that really concerned me when I first came
back to this, to academia and this position, and recognized the
degree to which so many college campuses were actually trying
to shut down free speech. They were trying to shut down
speakers from coming to campus.
My general counsel and I decided to co-teach a class on
free speech. We have done it two semesters, and we were
pleasantly surprised, or I do not know surprised compared to
the headlines, at how amazing our students were, and how much
they valued free speech.
In the years since, I think we have seen even more of
challenges to free speech coming from you know whether it is
the right or the left, or whatever, it does not really matter.
We are very committed to free speech and academic freedom here
at MSU Denver.
We are currently working on an inclusively designed
statement for free speech that we will be putting forward to
the trustees here in the next few months.
Mr. Fulcher. Maybe we can learn something from you here too
as well. Once again, I am going to shift gears, but I have only
got a little over a minute left, and you have mentioned in your
testimony something that I do not fully understand. That is
industry branded credentials, and in that regard what benefits
do these industry branded credentials bring to students,
particularly the non-traditional working students, and how
prevalent are they?
Dr. Davidson. Well, I think they are becoming more
important, and more popular if you will. I do not think they
are a complete replacement for higher education, but I think
there is a partnership here. We are talking with a couple
industry partners about codesigning curriculum that also has an
element where you are learning on the job with them.
That they help us design what matters to the industry, and
we can put it back into our curriculum. It is a shared sort of
a thing that ensures that what we are doing in higher education
is consistently relevant to what's happening in the ``real
world.'' Really important in technology fields, especially
where there's such innovation happening in the private sector.
The students that can then take those badges along with
their regular traditional transcript, and it tells a bigger
story to the potential employers of what exactly those students
are capable of doing and what they've learned from their
experience at our university.
Mr. Fulcher. Thank you for that, and that is all the
questions I have got for right now, but I would just like to
take my last 5 seconds and congratulate Congresswoman Miller-
Meeks on being the ranking new member for Higher Education
Workforce Investment. Madam Chairman, I yield back.
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you so much.
Representative Manning. Representative Bowman.
Mr. Bowman. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to all
the witnesses for joining us today to discuss the incredible
importance of Hispanic Serving Institutions, Predominantly
Black Institutions and Native Pacific Islander serving
institutions. I sit on the Science, Space and Tech Committee
where I think a lot about the importance of diversifying the
STEM workforce specifically.
That is part of why I introduced the Green New Deal for
Public Schools, which includes investments in locally rooted
curriculum related to the clean energy transition and climate
resilience, especially for historically marginalized districts
of color.
I am excited that Mercy College, an HSI that I attended,
and where many of my constituents go, recently received Federal
funding for their STEM Ready program to do just that. Dr. Cruz
Rivera, how do HSIs and other MSIs play a role in unleashing
the full potential of all our students in STEM and why is it
important that they do so?
Dr. Cruz Rivera. Thank you, Congressman Bowman. HSIs have a
huge responsibility to ensure that we are allowing our students
to meet their full potential, and that are being prepared to
take on the new jobs in STEM fields for example.
The reality is that HSIs only represent about 15 percent of
the total number of colleges and universities across the
country, but they serve two-thirds of all Hispanic students and
a large proportion of other students of color and students with
financial need, so we really want to diversify the STEM field,
so that the experiences of our students can impact the way that
we pursue and that we inform our work moving forward, then HSIs
really have a role to play there.
What I will say for example at NAU we are very proud of the
fact that our STEM programs are growing, and they are being
supported not only by the work that we are doing on our campus
here in Flagstaff, and our 20 sites across the State, but also
through the work that we do at middle schools and high schools
to create the community engagement and the aspirations for our
students.
We learn for example the year program for the State of
Arizona, and so we are very mindful of the fact that in order
for our students to be able to contribute in the future for
tech they need to be thinking about it and preparing for it and
aspiring at an earlier age to be part of that work, and so HSIs
are on it, and we are happy to be part of that.
Mr. Bowman. Thank you so much. I have another question I
want to ask you. We are facing a youth mental health crisis at
all ages. It is so important that we prioritize student well-
being, and I know that the College of Mt. St. Vincent, another
Hispanic Serving Institution in my district, has a counseling
center where they support student's mental health as do many
other minority service institutions.
As a former educator, I know firsthand the importance of
culturally responsive mental health care in communities for all
ages from early childhood through K to 12 and beyond. I see
such potential for MSIs to train more Black, Latino and AAPI
mental health professionals in the same way they are
diversifying the teaching workforce through the Hawkins Center
for Excellence program.
Dr. Cruz Rivera, if provided additional Federal
investments, how could HSIs and other MSIs play an increased
role in training mental health providers of color?
Dr. Rivera. Thank you. That is a very timely and important
question. Additional funding would certainly expand the number
of students that we serve in these areas and create programs
that will incentivize them staying within their communities and
serving those communities toward the long-term.
In an earlier question, I talked about programs that we
have here at NAU that will allow us to place teachers in the
communities where they can provide culturally responsive
teaching to those communities by helping subsidize their
undergraduate degree, so that they do not incur the type of
debt that may not allow them or persuade them from entering
into the profession in those rural communities.
Similarly, we are embarking now on what we call the New
Economy Initiative, which is to dramatically increase the
number of allied health professionals and clinical
psychologists and mental health professionals that will be
serving the State of Arizona, and part of that is not only
enduring that we have the funds to pay the infrastructure, to
serve those students, but also have the resources to place them
in clinical settings, and then also have the incentives in
place for them to actually be able to stay and serve the
communities as many of them would like to.
Mr. Bowman. Thank you so much. Madam Chair, I yield back.
Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you. Now Mr. Grothman.
Mr. Grothman. Yes, now for Dr. Davidson. I am a big fan of
competency-based education where a student's progress is
measured by what they learn, rather than just the number of
days they are in a seat. Are you familiar with any of these
universities, or are you yourself using competency-based
education as a way to, first of all, make sure that a degree
means competency, rather than just maybe a certificate of
attendance?
Second, as a way to get people through college quicker
without incurring so much debt.
Dr. Davidson. Yes, I think there is a lot of innovation
happening in this area, and I think there is a lot of different
ways to do it. I am familiar with some of the ways that
competency-based education is moving along, and we are looking
at some of those ideas.
I also think it kind of goes along with what we were
talking about earlier, which is about the certificates that are
stackable. When you combine that with the sort of revolution in
online learning, I think you could really get to a place where
students are taking charge of their own education. They are
getting the credentials that they need in a way that speaks to
employer's needs and actually articulates what it is they have
learned in the classroom, and online.
Mr. Grothman. Okay. I will give you, or maybe even one of
the others a question. Pell grants have come up a few times a
little bit here in discussion. I receive complaints at home
from parents, from I guess what I would call traditional
families. Their students of course are not eligible for Pell
grants because maybe both parents have a job, and they are not
considered in poverty.
They complain about the prejudices in our society against
people like those because they may know somebody else whose you
know mom and dad are not home, and nobody is working in the
house, and their kids get free college. They wonder why you
know they thought they were told when they were younger that
when you get married, you have children, and there are all
sorts of different families, and all that is wonderful.
They feel that you know as a society we are discriminating
against folks like that. I have also heard you know two groups
of people who are not getting married specifically to get
coverage, so it affects both the parents, and it effects the
students. It bothers me the degree to which we seem to
discrimination against traditional families in our society.
A lot of times those families do not have a lot of money
either, and a lot of times they are not going to contribute to
their children's education. Nevertheless, we had one witness
that testified that she thought we ought to double the Pell
grants, which of course is just even more of a discrimination
against traditional families.
What would you say, you, or any of the other witnesses if I
have somebody from a more traditional family come up to me and
say that my daughter, my son is $35,000, $40,000, $45,000,
$50,000 in debt, and their roommate, or their cousin or
whatever is not in debt because the government seems to favor
that group? How should I respond to that?
Dr. Davidson. Well, I think the Pell grant program has been
transformation for a generation of university-going students.
Every policy at the Federal level is going to have some
unintended consequences, and we should be looking at how to
address those. I think what we see with the Pell situation is
the following, especially given the changes in our economy over
the last couple decades.
You have people at the higher end that can pay, and they
are going to pay. You have people at the lower end who as you
said are going to get a lot of assistance. There is a whole
group of folks in the middle.
Mr. Grothman. We seem to hate as a society, right? We seem
to hate those people as a society.
Dr. Davidson. Yes, I do not know that people hate, but the
middle people that sometimes are on the edges of those
boundaries. We work really hard at MSU Denver to fill those
gaps for students that are maybe not fully eligible for Pell
and whose families are not fully eligible to pay, are able to
pay as well.
Mr. Grothman. I will give you all one more question if I
have got time. Yes, I do. I am very concerned about student
loan debt, and some of my more forward-looking university
administrators, they want the ability to advise students on
debt, or even tell them you cannot take out this amount of
debt, because some debt that is being taken out for a
lifestyle, more than the minimum necessary for the tuition and
books and that sort of thing.
Would you folks all like the ability to advise your
students on the amount of loans they can take out, and even
forbid them from taking out excessive amounts, because after
all 19, or 20, or 23 year old's, even older people in our
society cannot control their debt, and I think we need to hold
the balance of these excessive loans by saying you know I think
this semester you only need $4,000.00 rather than $6,000.00 or
something. Would you guys like the ability to do that?
Would you like the ability to prevent students from taking
out what you think are excessive loans that they really do not
need?
Chairwoman Wilson. This is the Chair.
Mr. Grothman.
Mr. Grothman. Yes.
Chairwoman Wilson. Time up.
Mr. Grothman. Okay. Could you not hear me or----
Mr. Scott. You did not say who the question was aimed at.
Mr. Grothman. I said any one of them, but okay, that is
fine.
Chairwoman Wilson. They can submit to the committee.
Mr. Grothman. Okay.
Chairwoman Wilson. Okay.
Mr. Grothman. Okay.
Chairwoman Wilson. Alrighty. I need to go to vote in
another committee, so I am going to pass the gavel over to our
Chair, Mr. Bobby Scott.
Mr. Scott. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. I will defer
questions. Are there other committee members that want to ask
questions? Who is next? Mr. Good, okay. Okay, I think the next
is my distinguished colleague from--wait a minute we have Ms.
Manning just showed up, so she will be--Ms. Manning, are you
prepared to ask questions?
Ms. Manning. Yes, I am. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Scott. The gentlelady from North Carolina is recognized
for 5 minutes.
Ms. Manning. Thank you very much and thank you for holding
this important hearing. Dr. Teranishi, could you tell us more
about why it is important that MSIs receive funding
specifically for research and policy, particularly as it
relates to improving institutional equity?
Dr. Teranishi. Yes. Representative Manning, thank you for
the question. I think there is a lot we can learn from
AANAPISIs and other MSIs with regards to their role and
function in higher education. I think that a greater investment
of research that is targeted at the study of the Secretary of
Higher Education is important. The Institute for Education
Sciences they provide targeted support for MSIs, but a lot of
times these programs are relegated to training students, as
opposed to funding research.
For AANAPISIs in particular, NSF's National Endowment for
the Humanities, they have established grant programs for other
MSIs, but they do not include AANAPISIs. I think funding for a
focus on MSIs can yield insight for effective and innovative
practices.
I think we need to build that resource; the knowledge base
in terms of the research on this sector of higher education. We
also have a growing segment of the MSIs that are R1s. There is
17 HSIs that are R1s that I mentioned earlier.
Of these 17 R1s, MSIs 8 are eligible for AANAPISI, 17 R1
HSIs, and we have 3 HSIs that are also members of the
Association for American Universities. We have a growing
concentration of research intensive Minority Serving
Institutions, and I think this is a group of institutions that
we can harness our capabilities to better inform the field.
Ms. Manning. Thank you so much. Dr. Ramsey, I would like to
turn to you. Your institution prides itself on preparing
students to enter the STEM workforce. Can you share with us the
work Medgar Evers does to support students in STEM education,
and can you also elaborate on why it is so crucial that Medgar
Evers addresses the need for people of color in the STEM
workforce?
Dr. Ramsey. Well, thank you for that question. Medgar Evers
College is, I would say, an anomaly in that the greatest
percentage of our students actually major in STEM areas. Our
largest department at the college is biology, and we have some
other programs that we are getting support with grants to help
increase the students that are in the cyber area.
It is so important because the students who are at schools
such as Medgar Evers College will actually contribute to the
Nation. As you know we want to be competitive as a Nation, and
so if we have the students who are at the MSIs going into the
STEM areas, that is going to help the Nation, and help the
economy of the Nation.
I am really proud of the fact that we have enough of our
students who have graduated. We are, in addition to being No. 2
in science at CUNY, we actually have the second highest
percentage of students going on to graduate and professional
schools. As you know for every degree, according to Labor and
Statistics, it is going to give a family an additional
$7,000.00 of income.
It is so important for an institution such as us in a
community that is an underserved community.
Ms. Manning. Thank you so much for that. We spend a lot of
timing talking about how important it is to invest in our
students, to invest in students of color to make sure that they
have the opportunity to have good paying jobs and contribute to
our economy. We spend a lot of time talking about how we can
better compete with China, and what you are doing contributes
to both those things.
Thank you so much for all your work, and with that Mr.
Chairman, I yield back.
Mr. Scott. Thank you. Now my distinguished colleague from
Virginia, Mr. Good.
Mr. Good. Thank you, Chairman Scott, and thank you to our
witnesses. Now with the chain link COVID fence protecting the
Capitol, and we are assembling in large numbers on the House
floor, and we finally recognize the uselessness of wearing
masks, I look forward to Democrats joining us in person in this
hearing room to do the work the people sent us here to do in a
spirit of robust debate.
Millions of Americans come to work every day, and we can
certainly do the same. The last 2 years have reinforced the
existing threat to our most fundamental precious of freedoms,
in addition to the tremendous need for school choice. Parents
have increasingly seen what is happening in their schools.
That is why I introduced a Children Have Opportunities in
Classrooms Everywhere, or CHOICE Act, which will allow families
to deposit education funds into a 529 account to follow their
student, the educational option of their choice.
We need choice and freedom in higher education also to
reduce wasteful spending and help provide the best possible
instruction for students who are impacted by skyrocketing
college costs. Education providers need less regulation when it
comes to delivering the curriculums for their students, but
unfortunately most colleges have to work through a maze of
regulations and policies that serve to only increase costs for
their students.
Dr. Davidson, can you speak to the provisions in current
law or regulations that are particularly burdensome and heavy
handed and actually serve to inhibit or diminish your efforts
to improve student outcomes, and offer programs at an
affordable cost?
Dr. Davidson. Well, I will say that regulations and such do
require us to have some overhead so that we can generate those
data and submit all these requirements. That is true. I cannot
pinpoint any one particular thing that is so overly burdensome,
but one of the things is about the way we report our data. It
takes a lot to get all the data right, and the questions that
are asked from Washington should be questions that are relevant
to the experiences of our students.
I think also one of our other witnesses talked about the
burden of the IPEDS data that is tracking just a small
percentage of the students that go to our MSIs, first time
full-time freshmen, as opposed to so many of our students who
are transfer students and working adults.
I think that if we are going to really do right by our
students across the Nation, it will start tracking with things
that matter.
Mr. Good. Unfortunately, the Coronavirus has led to many
colleges, like some congressional offices, shutting down and
harming countless students who are seeking an in-person college
education. Treating them, college students, like senior
citizens with multiple comorbidity factors.
Dr. Davidson, can you speak to the importance of college
students receiving an in person, in classroom education?
Dr. Davidson. We strive at MSU Denver to offer our students
whatever sort of flexible options that they need. Some of our
students, many of our students, do prefer the in-person, and I
think some have stopped out for a while because of that.
That said, some of our students have been presently
surprised that online education has been very useful for them,
and now that in the post-COVID world where their lives have
been disrupted, and their kids are in and out of school, and
they are working, they are also taking online courses.
What I think higher education needs to innovate, so that we
can meet students where they are.
Mr. Good. I think that your point illustrates that we need
choice and freedom that the students and the colleges should be
deciding, we should not have onerous burdensome regulation from
the Federal Government telling us whether or not we can open
our colleges and let our students learn in person or in State
governments. Thank you, Dr. Davidson, thank you to all of our
witnesses, Chairman, I do yield back.
Mr. Scott. Thank you. Next is the gentleman from Texas, Mr.
Castro.
Mr. Castro. Thank you, Chairman. As a diverse and growing
number of the U.S. population continues to reach for a college
education, it is vital that we examine how the institutions
tasked with preparing future generations for a global economy
are doing, what they are doing to expand opportunity,
particular for students from low-income backgrounds.
Hispanic Serving Institutions, and other Minority Serving
Institutions play an important role in lifting their students
from the bottom to the top of the economic distribution in our
country. In fact, research shows that MSIs are more successful
in boosting the economy mobility of their students than non-
MSIs, and so I have a few questions here during my time.
First, Dr. Rivera, in your testimony you mentioned that
while there has been significant progress, students from low-
income backgrounds continue to lag behind their high-income
peers attending college. Can you share how HSIs are working
with the regional students to close gaps in college attendance,
and not only college attendance, but also retention and
completion?
Dr. Cruz Rivera. Thank you, Congressman Castro. HSIs are
trying to do the best they can to meet students where they are,
and to ensure that those students are given every opportunity
to not only develop the aspirations to go to college, but also
be prepared and supportive once they get there. I will give you
an example from Northern Arizona University, who has just
recently designated as an HSI this past year.
When we looked at our admission requirements and compared
that to the high school graduation requirements across the
State, we noticed that there were 50,000 students, primarily in
rural communities, and primarily of minority backgrounds, that
only had access in their high school to the 14 courses that are
required for high school graduation, whereas our university
required 16 courses to be admitted.
We have entered into a pilot program where now if a student
completes high school with a 3.0 GPA, they are guaranteed
admission to NAU, and then it will be up to NAU to ensure that
we are providing them the supports that they need to be
successful. We have also found that one of the obstacles, and
this has been mentioned earlier, is that there is no clear
messaging around the actual affordability of our institutions.
The fact of the matter is that the sticker price is almost
always at odds with the actual net costs that our students pay.
Here at NAU, we are looking to clarify to our price positioning
and financial aid packaging, that if you're a student that
comes from a household with a particular level of income, NAU
has evaluation requirements, you are not only guaranteed
admission to NAU, but you will also expect zero dollars out of
pocket for tuition and fees.
We are also making sure that our curriculum is reflecting
of the needs of the communities that we are trying to serve,
that our student support services to get them through
graduation are well aligned and culturally relevant, and we are
doing more while we have them with us to not only give them a
degree upon graduation, but also some sort of experience, a
degree clause if you will, undergraduate research, study
abroad, internships, that will position them better for post-
college outcomes once they graduate.
That is the work that HSIs need to do, and that we are very
excited to be part of that community.
Mr. Castro. Great. Let me ask one more question, because I
just have about a minute and a half, but the Hispanic
Association of Colleges and Universities published a report in
September 2021, that outlines the need for increased Federal
fundings for HSIs to improve their educational capacity.
In other words, the number of students that they can serve.
As we come out of this pandemic, how can we be sure that HSIs
are not left behind as they continue to educate and serve their
students and community, while they themselves, continue to be
federally underfunded?
Dr. Cruz Rivera. That is a great question. The fact of the
matter is that we not only have to provide access to the
students, but we have to provide access to excellence, and so
we have to do this at the same time that we have to expand and
broaden participation. Additional funding for HSIs in
particular, who, when you look at the overall landscape in
higher ed, you see significantly less money per student will be
of increasing importance.
The fact of the matter is that in order for us to, once
again, lead the world in educational attainment, we need 6.2
million more Hispanics to earn degrees in the near future.
Mr. Castro. Thank you. With that Chair, I yield back.
Mr. Scott. Oh, thank you. Next, we will have the gentleman
from Kentucky. Mr. Comer you are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Comer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Dr. Davidson, I serve
as the Ranking Member of the House Oversight and Reform
Committee where we focus on government efficiency,
accountability, transparency. We try to root out waste fraud
abuse, and mismanagement in the Federal Government.
I recognize the need for institutions to be accountable for
any taxpayer funding provided to them. Are there any changes
you would like to see in a potential Higher Education Act
reauthorization regarding the amount of administrative burden,
we are affording on universities, and where there is innovation
like the stackable credentials you mentioned, which we should
be focusing on in higher education?
Dr. Davidson. Thank you for your question and concern about
efficiency. Higher education in America because of so much of
the disinvestment is incredibly efficient, despite the
requirements of reporting and what not. I will go back to what
I said before. I think it is important that we are held
accountable for the funding that we receive from the
government, and for our outcomes.
I will also say that we should make sure that we are
measuring what matters. If you are only counting a certain
number of students, and a certain kind of environment, and then
applying it to other kinds of universities, MSIs in particular,
to which those are less relevant, then you are not really
getting what you need from us.
I would say looking for ways to measure what matters, so
that you can actually hold us accountable for the mission that
we are actually doing in service to so many Americans that are
trying to reach their dreams.
Mr. Comer. Thank you, Dr. Davidson. One of my biggest
complaints with higher education is the lack of coordination
between the universities and the private sector in developing a
curriculum that is needed in today's society. That is the
biggest complaint I would hear from job creators is you know we
get these kids right out of college, and they do not have any
skills that apply to us.
I believe institutions should be partnering with industry
to develop curriculum relevant to the needs of their region,
and every region is different. What do you consider when
evaluating the potential of industry partnerships to meet the
needs and capacity of employers while providing well-paying
jobs for MSU students upon graduation?
Dr. Davidson. Sure. Whether or not we are providing the
right kind of talent for industry is for the industry to decide
really. What we try to do at MSU Denver is the reason we
created our classroom to career hub with industry partnership
program, so that we can reach out to those industry partners
and bring them in and say listen, what is happening in the
industry, what do you need.
How can we partner to co-create curriculum that matters,
and even more importantly, co-create experiential learning
opportunities, paid internship opportunities, apprenticeship
models and co-ops that allow our students to get relevant work
experience toward their career before they graduate, so that
when they graduate the jobs that they are taking make so much
sense.
We have industry partners who have partnered with us and
done this, and higher 80 to 90 percent of those graduates, and
they love it because they say straight out what you just said,
we love hiring MSU Denver graduates because we know what they
are learning because we helped them design the curriculum. In
many cases, they are adjuncts here as well.
Mr. Comer. Good deal. Well, I think that is the key, that
is one way that I think universities should measure success. A
year later where is this graduate? What job do they have, and
is that pertaining to the education that they received, their
major, their minor, their certification whatever, and what's
their salary? To me that is a good way to monitor success in
universities.
Some universities do it. Unfortunately, others do not, but
hopefully we can continue to expand the certification process
in the university, some universities have embraced that, others
have not. Also, I am a big believer in cooperatives, co-ops and
internships, and I think that is great because it is all about
getting that suit up ready to be successful in their career
path, whatever career that may be.
Thank you for being here today. I thank all the witnesses,
and Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Mr. Scott. Thank you. Next the gentlelady from Washington,
Ms. Jayapal.
Ms. Jayapal. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Minority Serving
Institutions have remarkable track records of improving
economic mobility for low-income students of color. Students at
MSIs are more than twice as likely to experience upward
mobility than those at non-MSIs.
In King County, in the district I represent, AANAPISIs like
the Seattle Colleges and Shoreline Community College have
propelled low-income students into economic success by offering
tuition free degrees through the Seattle Promise and the
Washington College Grant.
By investing in programs that reduce or eliminate cost
barriers, MSIs are able to help more low-income students of
color succeed without the burden of student loan debt. Dr. Cruz
Rivera, in your testimony you discussed the importance of the
Pell grant. Since the Pell grant was established, it has gone
from covering 75 percent of the cost of attending a public 4-
year institution, to only 30 percent. What does this mean for
your students?
Dr. Cruz Rivera. Thank you for the question, Congresswoman
Jayapal. It means that our students, even if they are eligible
for the Pell grant programs still incur insignificant unmet
need and this unmet need then needs to be addressed through
either a significant amount of work that takes them away from
their studies, and/or loan debt that could also have an
implication in their ability to succeed post-graduation.
That is the current State of affairs right now.
Ms. Jayapal. Thank you. At our HBCU hearing a witness
stated that we need a true public option in terms of free
college to support economic mobility. Rhode Island has a
tuition-free program that tripled its graduation rate, and it
was ninefold for students of color.
The Arizona Promise is another tuition free program, and it
is fairly new. Would a Federal investment in the Arizona
Promise support economic mobility for your low-income students
of color, Dr. Rivera?
Dr. Cruz Rivera. It would. It would go a long way toward
allowing us to expand the number of students that could get
access to the Arizona Promise program, and also could have the
potential of allowing us to go beyond tuition and fees, and
going to the realm of total cost of attendance which is so
important at the end of the day to ensure that our students are
graduating in a good position to advance their careers.
Ms. Jayapal. Incredibly important to have that
comprehensive set of services included. Dr. Teranishi, Congress
added a question on race to the FAFSA that captures the racial
group specified on the Census Bureau's American Community
Survey, which would include subgroups within the Asian
American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Community.
Why is this kind of disaggregated data, this level of
disaggregated data, important to understanding the outcomes,
and how can it help institutions and policymakers support
students?
Dr. Teranishi. Thank you Representative Jayapal. Data is an
essential tool for assessing the impact of educational
resources and programs, as well as for capturing gaps in
educational participation of representation. For the AAPI
community, basically what is happening is that aggregated data
is concealing the unique needs and challenges of ethnic
subgroups.
There are significant disparities in college participation,
and degree attainment, as well as differences in access to
utilization of programs and services, such as access to
financial aid. The lack of disaggregated data is a key barrier
to policy and program development that advances the equitable
treatment for the AAPI community.
As I mentioned, you know I really do think it is one of the
most important civil rights issues for the AAPI community
because it is rendering a lot of marginalize vulnerable groups
within the population invisible. Now is the time to address
this issue given the fact that you know data driven decisions
are more prevalent than ever.
Ms. Jayapal. I cannot say how important that answer is, and
for people to understand, and being the first and the only
South Asian American woman, I am constantly having to explain
that Asia is a very, very big place. You add all the different
pieces that are part of the classifications that are on the
forms, and you miss all of the specific information that you
need to cater to different minority communities that speak by
the way dozens and dozens and dozens of languages, that are all
different.
We really miss the opportunity to tailor our work to these
communities in the AAPI community. Really excited that you
raised that, and also want to say you know I think this is--
this hearing is important for us to remember the importance of
doubling the Pell grant because a lot of our students that need
this the most really need that doubling, with that I yield
back. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Scott. Thank you. The gentlelady from Louisiana, Ms.
Letlow.
Mrs. Letlow. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and to all the
witnesses thank you for taking the time to testify before the
committee today. I appreciate you sharing about innovation
occurring at your institutions and making policy
recommendations on what Congress can do to help you continue
serving minority students.
My questions today are for Dr. Davidson. Dr. Davidson, it
is no secret that the United States is facing a significant
workforce shortage. Even prior to disruptions caused by COVID,
there were 7 million unfilled jobs, and unfortunately that
number has grown even more.
To address skilled worker shortage, many Republicans have
supported policies to expand Pell grant eligibility for short-
term credential programs. What are your thoughts on expanding
Pell eligibility for these sorts of programs, and if such a
policy were enacted, can you discuss how they would benefit
both MSIs and the students they serve?
Dr. Davidson. Well, the Pell program has been
transformational for generations of Americans, and especially
at MSI where so many of our students are also low-income. About
30 percent of our students qualify for Pell, and then there is
that section of like what we call that mirky middle.
One of the issues we do have is that a lot of times
students are coming back just to upskill, and because they're
not considered degree seeking or full-time, they do not always
qualify for the kinds of Federal aid that could be out there
for other students, and given what you just described about the
nature of our economy, and students that are needed to come in
and out and upskill and go back, we really should think about
expanding opportunity for those sorts of programs for students
who are seeking non-traditional paths.
Mrs. Letlow. Thank you. Thank you for your statement. Dr.
Davidson the COVID-19 pandemic caused massive disruptions to
nearly every industry, including higher ed, and it also
accelerated many of the fundamental transformations in post-
secondary education that were already beginning to surface
prior to the pandemic.
In your testimony you mentioned that your institution used
COVID-19 relief dollars to build the infrastructure needed to
support this transformation. Can you discuss further where you
see higher ed heading, and how MSU is adapting to this new
reality?
Dr. Davidson. Absolutely. We pivoted online in the spring
of 2020 like everybody else did, and our professors, and our
students, and I was teaching a class at the time, learned that
wow, you can actually do a lot more online than a lot of people
thought. That was just with basic pivoting the class that you
already designed into an online mode.
What we decided was that we knew the pandemic was not going
to go away, and we decided we were going to go 90 percent
online in the fall, and we spent the summer investing those
Federal dollars in upgrading our IT backbone. A lot of people
do not realize what goes into it to make a good, or an
excellent online course.
In conjunction with that we also spent money to train our
professors, many of whom had never taught an online course, to
show them how they can do it, and how they can do it in a
really excellent way. My not-so-secret hidden agenda was that
that would catapult us into another phase in the post-COVID
environment, and it surely has with so many students whose
lives have been disrupted, going back to work, and trying to
also get back through college.
They are going to need more flexible options. Our academic
transformation plan for the future is to leverage this
skillset, and this new awareness of what we can do in the
online space to offer students opportunity. My dream would be
that a student could take any course in any modality that fit
into their lives so that they can get to their dream.
Mrs. Letlow. Thank you so much, Dr. Davidson. I really
appreciate your answers. Mr. Chairman I yield back the
remainder of my time.
Mr. Scott. Thank you. The gentlelady from Oregon Ms.
Bonamici.
Ms. Bonamici. Thank you so much Chair Scott, and thank you
to Chair Wilson and Ranking Member Miller-Meeks as well, but
especially thank you to the witnesses for being here, for
bringing your expertise to this important hearing. Minority
Serving Institutions, including Umpqua Community College and
Pacific University in Northwest Oregon, serve an important role
in expanding opportunities for historically under-represented
student populations.
There are several things that we can do to set up more
students to succeed and to thrive in higher education,
including increasing resources to engage parents and families
of first-generation students who may otherwise be unaware of
post-secondary pathways, increasing resources for financial aid
and background services for students and their families.
I had a meeting, a virtual meeting yesterday with students
in Oregon who were talking about the importance of the Pell
grant and how doubling the Pell grant would make a significant
difference. As Representative Jayapal pointed out, the Pell
grant is not meeting the needs that it used to over the years.
My first question is for Dr. Teranishi. You noted in your
research that many students of color, and low-income students
attending Minority Serving Institutions face various challenges
prior to even setting foot on a college campus. What are some
of those challenges? What role should institutions of higher
education play to specifically address those challenges, and
how can Congress help?
Dr. Teranishi. Yes, thank you very much for the question,
and I guess I will respond to that question in the context of
aid. One thing that we have observed through our research is
the extent to which low-income, first generation AAPI college
students are low numbers.
They are approaching their education I guess as a pay as
you go pathway, and they are working multiple jobs. They are
working you know just a high number of hours per week. A lot of
times they are also put in a position where they have to help
out in terms of needs and their families at home.
Ms. Bonamici. Right, right.
Dr. Teranishi. You know so there are multiple barriers that
they are facing, and a lot of these things are interconnected,
but institutions need to learn more about what those barriers
are, and how to address those unique needs and challenges.
AANAPISIs are put in a position where they could use the
resources they are getting from the Federal Government to build
their capacity to, you know, I guess test--experiment with ways
of better understanding where their students are and how to
serve them, and then institutionalizing those best practices.
Ms. Bonamici. That makes sense. Thank you so much. I found
that programs like TRIO really make a difference. Dr. Ramsey,
diversity is not limited to an institution student body.
Fostering diversity among faculty and staff has shown to create
a stronger sense of belonging among students of color on
campus.
What efforts should Predominantly Black Institutions and
other Minority Serving Institutions do to help create that
pipeline for faculty and staff of color?
Dr. Ramsey. Well, thank you for that question. Diversity is
very important to any institution in my opinion because the
students that you have at your institution in many ways should
look very similar to the faculty and the staff that you have at
that institution because the research has shown that students
do better in that regard.
At our institution we are a Predominantly Black
Institution, but the thing that is very interesting about us is
that we have many different cultures at this institution, and I
really like it when I heard the Congresswoman say that in
Southeast Asia you have people that are putting people in
pretty much a lump, and then there are all these different
languages.
We have that same kind of thing that happens. Diversity
happens in many different ways, and so you could look at a call
to diversity, but also a group that people often forget about
is those people with special needs. It is very, very important
because it helps encourage those students to do their best.
Ms. Bonamici. That is great. We are doing some great work
out in Oregon with the sort of grow your own programs,
particularly in the Latinx community, encouraging students to
go into teaching, so they can go and then teach in institutions
where we have high populations of students of color.
Well, thank you so much. I have just a few seconds left,
and I am going to yield back the balance of my time. Thank you,
Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Scott. Thank you. I recognize myself for questions. I
will begin by just pointing out to our witnesses, I think just
about all have endorsed doubling the Pell grant. I point out
that doubling the Pell grant will not even get us back to where
we were in the 1970's where it was covering 75 percent. We need
about two and a half times the present Pell grant to get there.
We do have support. The President mentioned significant
increases of Pell grants in his State of the Union last night,
so we are going to do the best we can to make sure those
increases take place. Dr. Davidson you mentioned improving the
FAFSA form. We thought we had done that already. Do you have
specific suggestions as to how we could further simply the
FAFSA form?
Dr. Davidson. Well, the speedy implementation of the
reforms that you have already done have been very, very
helpful. Like I said, we spend a lot of time helping students
fill these forms out. One of the other innovations I think
people talk about is maybe linking this to your taxes, so it is
not this transfer of all this information that goes on.
It is very hard for our students to have to go and track
down their parent's tax returns and those sorts of things. From
their perspective, it is the Federal Government asking for its
own information, sort of inefficient.
Mr. Scott. I think some of the tax coordination is
presently available. The question is whether you can get
permission to get there. Work studies--should we limit work
study opportunities to areas relevant to your curriculum?
Dr. Davidson. I am for Work Study opportunities in every
area. Almost anything that our students are doing in our work
study environment is enhancing their educational experience,
whether you call it soft or essential skills, or skills that
are directly related to an engineering degree. It is all very
relevant.
Mr. Scott. Okay. Thank you. Dr. Ramsey, I want to
congratulate you on your academic credentials, particularly
those that are decorated with green and gold.
Dr. Ramsey. Thank you.
Mr. Scott. Can you--you indicated that you get no credit
for graduation for part-time students that do not have time and
take seven or 8 years, you get no credit for transfers, or
those who even start in the spring. I think we need to look at
that, but can you tell us with more resources what kind of
evidence-based programs you could actually fund to make a
difference in helping people graduate?
Dr. Ramsey. Yes, thank you for that question. We are
looking very closely at what we can do to help the students in
this community in particular. One of the things that we did was
to--since we set that, write a proposal, some people on my team
and I, and submitted it to the mayor's office, and we were able
to get the largest grant in the history of the college, roughly
at 20 million dollars to help provide wrap around services for
the students and for high impact practices.
What we are using the funds for is for scholarships for
students, and the thing about I have been listening to the Pell
conversations, the thing about it is with the tuition being
paid, with students that are in an urban area like Brooklyn,
those students need to have a way to be able to get to the
school as well, and so we are providing them with Metrocards,
as well as with funding for books.
Then related to the students and how they are to actually
be successful when they go out into the work world, we have the
Brooklyn Recovery which is an initiative that is a part of that
fund that we received, where we are sending students out to
partners, and those partners--we have a number of partners
actually, and those partners are actually providing real world
experience for those students.
We are paying the students, and so they are partnering with
non-profit and with small businesses, and so we are helping the
community as well as helping our students with that.
Mr. Scott. Thank you. Let me ask Dr. Rivera, you mentioned
evidence-based programs in need of funding. Can you mention
some of those, and if you do not have time in 30 seconds,
provide us the kinds of programs you could fund with additional
resources?
Dr. Cruz Rivera. Sure. I will just State given the time
limit, and we will submit more details later that we are
generally talking about high impact practices, things that we
know that work like supplemental instruction, peer mentoring,
undergraduate research, internship opportunities, exponential
learning, those sorts of programs have been shown to
disproportionately impact the under-represented and underserved
students to graduate, and those are the things that we need
some funding to scale up.
Mr. Scott. Thank you so much. My time has expired. I do not
think there are any other members of the subcommittee that are
seeking recognition, but we do have a member of the committee
who was very interested in the subject matter and has asked to
participate, Dr. Adams from North Carolina has worked in this
area for a long time, particularly with HBCUs, and Dr. Adams
you are recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. Adams. Thank you, thank you Chair Scott, and also to
Chair Wilson, and Ranking Member Miller-Meeks, thank you for
hosting today, and to our witnesses as well. Thank you for
allowing me to waive on today. The conversation is one that is
important to me. I am a two-time graduate of an HBCU, spent 40
years teaching and as an administrator in HBCU, and currently
the founder and co-chair of the bipartisan HBCU Caucus.
Our schools, and I mean a lot, and including our HBCUs and
HSIs and TCUs, AANAPISIs, NASNTIs and ANNHs, but they have been
neglected and ignored and under resourced by the Federal
Government for much too long, and so I am announcing that we
will be introducing my signature legislation, the IGNITE HBCU
Excellence Act as the IGNITE HBCU and MSI Excellence Act.
My first question goes to--let us see, Dr. Cruz Rivera, Dr.
Ramsey, and Teranishi. In your testimony, all three of you
agreed on the following: That your institutions need to improve
their research infrastructure, so if you could briefly tell us
what Federal resources do you currently have access to that
would allow you to improve your campus and research
infrastructure, and is it sufficient for your current needs?
That would be to each of you.
Dr. Cruz Rivera. Thank you, Congresswoman Adams. Right now,
we have from the standpoint of research infrastructure access
to funds from NSF, NIH, Department of Defense, that are
targeted to specific areas of inquiry, and provide also funds
for major research implementation grants.
The issue here is that our HSIs and MSIs more broadly
across the United States really have been underfunded from an
equity perspective, compared to non-MSIs, and so we do need
some infusions of funding so that we can accelerate progress
and get our infrastructure up to par.
Not only because we are interested in advancing research
from an applied, or a basic standpoint, because a lot of the
research that we do also takes care of the regions that we
served. At Northern Arizona University we work very closely
with our Native community.
We work very closely with ensuring that we can eradicate
health disparities among different groups of people. We work
very closely with land and water management. The extent we can
have some direct infusions to compensate for past inequities, I
think we will be able to better serve the Nation.
Ms. Adams. Great.
Dr. Ramsey.
Dr. Ramsey. Yes. Thank you for that. We are able to get
funding through grants, and that has been very, very helpful.
One of the things I discovered, and we have an excellent
science building program over here with much equipment that's
really, really great, but it would be helpful if we could get
funding to actually support that equipment because the
equipment needs to have maintenance, and that is a challenge
for us because with science equipment it's very, very costly
for maintenance.
If we were able to get additional funding from the Federal
Government to help support us with the maintenance of that
equipment, as well as actually doing the project, it would be
very, very helpful.
Ms. Adams. Okay thank you. To the last witness, Dr.
Teranishi, can you quickly, we are running out of time, and I
do want to hear from you.
Dr. Teranishi. Yes, thank you. I spoke with the Rise in
Minority Serving Research Institutions within the UC system,
there are--five of the nine undergrad enrolling campuses are
now designated HSIs. There is a lot of talent and expertise
within these institutions in terms of their research
capabilities, and we are in the process of exploring what it
means to be Hispanic serving, research intensive institution,
as opposed to just a Hispanic enrolling institution.
I think there are a lot of opportunities to build and
strengthen our research capacity in the area, and also to
establish a better working relationship with our other
institutions in the State, including community colleges and the
CSU system.
Ms. Adams. Thank you. I just want to before I close, Mr.
Chairman, just to say that the legislation that I am proposing
for HBCUs and MSIs would do just the kinds of things that these
folks spoke about in terms of their needs, and so I would
certainly hope that we can champion this bill, and get the
legislation marked up. Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman, I
yield back.
Mr. Scott. Well, thank you, and I want to thank our
witnesses. I do not think there is anyone else seeking
recognition to ask questions, so I am going to remind my
colleagues that pursuant to committee practice, materials for
submission for the hearing record must be submitted to the
committee clerk within 14 days following the last day of the
hearing, so that would be by close of business on March 16,
preferably in Microsoft Word format.
The materials submitted must address the subject matter of
the hearing, and only a member of the subcommittee, or an
invited witness may submit materials for inclusion in the
hearing record. Documents are limited to 50 pages each.
Documents longer than 50 pages will be incorporated into the
record by way of an internet link, so that you must provide to
the committee clerk within the required timeframe, but please
recognize that in the future that link may no longer work.
Pursuant to House rules and regulations, items for the
record should be submitted to the committee clerk
electronically by emailing submission to
[email protected]. Again, I want to thank our
witnesses for their participation today. Members of the
subcommittee may have some additional questions for you, and we
ask witnesses to please respond to those questions in writing,
and the committee hearing record will be held open for 14 days
in order to receive those responses.
I remind my colleagues that pursuant to committee practice,
witness questions for the hearings must be submitted to the
majority committee staff, or committee clerk within 7 days and
the questions submitted must address the subject matter of the
hearing.
Does the ranking member left, the gentleman from Idaho wish
to make a statement?
Mr. Fulcher. No Mr. Chairman, thank you.
Mr. Scott. Okay. I know recognize myself for the purpose of
making a closing statement. I want to thank our witnesses for
their testimony. Today we discussed the important role that
Minority Serving Institutions play in expanding access to
higher education and propelling the underserved student into
the middle class and beyond.
Unfortunately, as our witnesses shared, many MSIs continue
to be left under resourced, forcing them to do more with less,
and the dynamic has only worsened the financial strain. To help
MSIs recover from the pandemic, Congress has already delivered
more than 26 billion dollars in dedicated Federal COVID relief
aid, however we know that our work to support these
institutions cannot end there.
We must secure enhanced and sustained funding so that MSIs
can continue fulfilling the promise of higher education for
generations to come. Moreover, in light in the deplorable
threats that have been received at HBCUs and terrorized the
students, staff, and faculty, it is critical that Congress and
the administration deliver the support to both HBCUs and MSIs
to support students' safety and success.
I look forward to working with my colleagues on this
committee, and all the relevant stakeholders to ensure the
institutions not only survive but continue to thrive and grow
for decades to come. Again, I want to thank our witnesses for
being with us today, and if there is no further business to
come before the committee, without objection the subcommittee
stands adjourned. Thank you, and I want to thank our witnesses
again.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[Whereupon, at 12:31 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
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