The Utah State Board of Regents will convene at Weber State University in Ogden on Friday, May 16, 2014. The meeting will take place in various rooms of the Shepherd Union building. Utah Governor Gary Herbert will be present during the Committee of the Whole in Shepherd Union Ballroom C. At noon, the groundbreaking for the new Weber State University Tracy Hall Science Center will be held at the Stewart Bell Tower Plaza.
At the meeting, a report titled “Building Utah’s Future through Higher Education” will be presented, which discusses the direct and indirect returns on investment for meeting the 66by2020 goal—that 66% of Utahns will have earned a post-secondary degree or certificate by 2020. These returns are calculated through annual and lifetime wage earnings as well as state tax revenue.
Some highlights of the report include:
- The overall impact of 66by2020 is $14.4 billion added to the Utah economy over 30 years in wages, with an annual rate of $400 million.
- Over 30 years, the 66by2020 goal will result in $1.4 billion in additional tax revenue for the state of Utah.
- The 66by2020 goal will reduce annual expenditures in the SNAP/Food Stamp program by $18 million.
Other agenda items of interest:
- Presentation of USHE 10-year enrollment projections:
- Current projections estimate that the USHE will grow to 223,000 students in by the 2023 – 2024 academic year
- Election of Board leadership (Chair and Vice Chair) for the next two years
- Announcement of the StepUP Ready grants:
- Funded by the Utah State Legislature during the 2014 session, these grants are for school districts/local education authorities (LEAs) that partner with Utah non-profit higher education institutions to increase the number of Utah’s public high school students who graduate from high school college-ready and enroll in a post-secondary institution
The complete downloadable agenda is now available, as well as audio streaming during Committee of the Whole portions of the meeting.
