10-year strategic plan for Utah higher ed unanimously approved by Board of Regents

Last Friday, the Board of Regents unanimously approved a 10-year strategic plan for Utah higher education. The strategic planning process started in the summer of 2014, with the Board of Regents reviewing several drafts of the plan in 2015. A draft of the plan was open for public comment in November 2015. The Utah State Board of […]

2016 StepUp READY Grant Awards Announced

The Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) has announced awards for the StepUp READY mini-grant program (up to $75,000). This is the second year of mini-grants awarded to projects based on partnerships between local school districts and Utah higher education institutions. The purpose of the grants is to increase the number of Utah’s public high […]

USHE institutions added 79 new certificate and degree programs in 2015

The Utah System of Higher Education’s (USHE) 2016 legislative budget priorities reflect the most pressing needs of USHE institutions, specifically the need to increase market demand programs such as computer science, aerospace engineering, composite manufacturing, automation, robotics, respiratory therapy, and health information management. USHE institutions have started to take measures to add many of these […]

USHE building priorities are vital to keep up with student growth

Board of Regents Prioritization of Capital Development Projects Unlike local school districts in K-12 that use property tax for support of facilities, higher education must rely on state appropriated funding from the Legislature to fund its facilities. The Board of Regents annually reviews system-wide capital development needs and prioritizes project requests which are then considered […]

New studies highlight the underemployment challenges of Utah college graduates

In the wake of the Great Recession, a common refrain took hold: That of the overeducated barista, unable to find a job in their field, working instead in a low or middle-skilled position just to get by. By 2012, more than half of college graduates under age 25 were jobless or underemployed. Underemployment, while not […]

The 2016 Free Application for Federal Student Aid is now available

The 2016 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which is the application that incoming and current college students fill out to see if they qualify for federal financial aid, is now available (opened Jan. 1). Current high school seniors who plan to attend college after high school and current college students should file the FAFSA, and […]

UESP exceeds 300,000 college savings accounts

The Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP) announced December 30th that the number of accounts under its management has passed 300,000, as a growing number of families invest in Utah’s official 529 plan to save for their children’s future college costs. The number of UESP college savings accounts has almost doubled since the financial crisis ended […]

Every Student Succeeds Act passed by Congress, signed by President

The U.S. Senate on December 9 voted 85-12 in favor of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The bill is a rewrite of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to replace No Child Left Behind, which expired in 2007. ESSA marks a major compromise that emerged between Democrats and Republicans in recent months, largely scaling […]