Utah funds $3.4 million in grants for workforce development

Utah Cluster Acceleration Partnership brings government, industry and education together through grant program The Utah Cluster Acceleration Partnership today announced the recipients of more than $3.4 million in grants. Each year the partnership awards grants to strengthen collaboration between education, industry and economic development leaders to better respond to the needs of regional and state-designated […]

Improving teacher preparation: A K-20 partnership

Teacher preparation is a top issue among education leaders—not just for K-12, but for higher education as well. The issue rose to the top of several higher education issues at a recent roundtable event hosted by the Utah Business Magazine. Weber State University President Chuck Wight observed, “Right now we have 1,240 computer science majors, […]

Step2theU partnership offers early college option for Utah high school students

A new partnership between the University of Utah and Alta High School is the latest option Utah students have to earn college credit from a Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) institution while still in high school. Several USHE institutions have similar partnerships with area high schools to help students get going on college classes while […]

National survey finds 80% of college seniors feel prepared for the workforce

Last week, McGraw-Hill released its third-annual Workforce Readiness Survey, which includes responses from 1,360 current college students across the country (from freshmen to graduate students). These students were asked for their opinion on how they perceive college has prepared them for their future career. Career preparedness 80% of college seniors felt either somewhat or very prepared for a professional career. […]

Concurrent enrollment not only saves students tuition, but improves college performance

Concurrent enrollment provides an opportunity for Utah high school juniors and seniors to earn college credit at a USHE institution while still in high school. Originated in 1985 in Utah by what is now Utah Valley University, the concurrent enrollment program was formally established by the Utah State Legislature in 1988. Concurrent enrollment is a valuable […]

Which measures are most effective at placing students in the appropriate college math course?

A recent USHE analysis found that using multiple performance measures (e.g., GPA, ACT score) to successfully place a student in a general education math course is key to successful course completion. Furthermore, a student’s cumulative GPA is the most significant academic performance predictor of success in general education math courses that fulfill the USHE Quantitative […]

Grant program aims to increase number of qualified teachers for concurrent enrollment classes

Each year, more than 30,000 of Utah’s high school juniors and seniors earn nearly 200,000 college credit hours by participating in the Concurrent Enrollment (CE) program, saving nearly $29 million in college tuition. SB 196: Math Competency Initiative (Millner/Gibson), passed during the 2015 legislative session, encourages all college-going high school students to complete their college-level quantitative literacy (math) […]

2016-17 StepUP READY Grant application now available

The Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) invites grant applications from partnerships between school districts/local education authorities (LEAs) and Utah not-for-profit higher education institutions in an effort to increase the number of Utah’s public high school students who graduate college-ready and enroll in a post-secondary institution. All grants require a robust partnership between the LEAs […]

New report highlights the costs of college remediation

A new analysis from the advocacy group Education Reform Now reports more than half of college freshmen—approximately one in four students who enter college the fall after high school graduation—had to enroll in remedial coursework during their first year of college. A “remedial” course, sometimes known as a “developmental” course, is one that covers material […]

2016 Legislative Update – Week 3

Higher Education Budget The Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee met for its final scheduled hearing this week, focusing on the Board of Regents’ budget priorities for USHE. The committee also considered other budget requests from other legislative sponsors. After the Board’s budget priorities by Chair Dan Campbell and Commissioner Buhler, Senator Howard Stephenson commented, “To the […]