At the second annual White House College Opportunity Day of Action, President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and the First Lady joined college presidents and leaders in education from around the nation to discuss actions to help more students prepare for and graduate from college. Chancellor Nancy Zimpher, SUNY Fredonia President Virginia Horvath, University at Albany President Robert Jones, and Dr. Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard, superintendent of the City School District of Albany were all present for the event.
As part of the event, Chancellor Zimpher participated in a panel discussion on the important role of cradle-to-career partnerships between K-12 schools and higher education in meeting the goals of more student preparedness and graduates. Here, she called on members of the National Association of System Heads (NASH), which she is chair of, to increase college completion by 350,000 students in the next 10 years.
“Bringing the opportunity of a college degree to every American in an affordable and attainable way will make us a stronger, more competitive nation; rebuild our economies and our communities; and once and for all close the achievement gaps that persist among our young people,” said Chancellor Zimpher. “Education – delivered effectively from pre-k, to and through college, and into career – is the best investment we, as a nation, can make as we strive to create a brighter future for all citizens. I commend President Obama and his administration for a consistent focus on collectively improving education from cradle to career.”
President Obama believes that the United States should lead the world in college attainment, as it did a generation ago. In a public address, he noted that “We were founded on the idea that everybody should have an equal opportunity to succeed. I want to make sure we lead the world in education once again.” Expanding opportunity for access and completion in college for all students, especially low-income and underrepresented students, is critical to building both a strong economy and middle class. Today, only 9 percent of those born in the lowest family income quartile attain a bachelor’s degree by age 25, compared to 54 percent in the top quartile.
"Today we’re announcing a handful of executive actions we can take immediately to expand #CollegeOpportunity" —Obama: http://t.co/yzgO5ZxAP7
— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) December 4, 2014
Through discussions and collaboration, the White House selected a number of commitments to support today. Included in those commitments were ones that SUNY made as a system as well as through its partnerships with Albany Promise and NASH.
SUNY’s collective efforts to increase access, completion, and success among students while serving as an economic engine for New York state have made it the national model in public higher education. Some of the new commitments from SUNY that are supported by the White House include:
- A 7.5 percent growth in STEM undergraduate degrees from SUNY over the next 10 years, and a 5 percent increase at the graduate level;
- Double the amount of New York State Master Teachers to surpass 600 in the next year, supporting outstanding teaching professionals who will reach more than 50,000 students across the state and inspire them to pursue STEM studies; and
- An annual SUNY Undergraduate Research Conference (SURC), a multidisciplinary event hosted each spring by a different SUNY institution, bringing together undergraduate student researchers and faculty mentors from across the system for a full day of activities highlighting their work.
Together, the actions taken today by colleges and systems and their leaders will reach hundreds of thousands of students in the coming years in an effort to increase college access, completion, and success for all.
Today’s activities can be watched on video via the White House. Chancellor Zimpher’s panel discussions starts at 1:48:00:
