WICHE & New Mexico Celebrate 50 Years

Boulder, Colorado — The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) is
celebrating 50 years as a force shaping higher education in the West. WICHE, along with New Mexico and 14 other member states, works collaboratively to expand educational access and excellence for the West’s citizens. WICHE is the only organization in the West that focuses exclusively on higher education issues, from accountability to tuition and fees to distance learning and innovation. Its primary issue – access – has been one of the region’s most pressing educational and social issues, from the days of the GI Bill down to the present.

New Mexico has been an integral part of WICHE since its creation in 1952. Originally founded to broaden access to medical, dental, and veterinary schools for students in states that didn’t support such programs, WICHE currently enrolls more than 19,000 students in 13 professional degree programs, 134 graduate programs, and scores of undergraduate disciplines.

Today, when our economy demands a highly educated workforce, WICHE actively
supports the idea that every student should be prepared for college, and everyone should
have access to a college education.

New Mexico's students and their families are the primary beneficiaries of WICHE’s three
Student Exchange programs: the Professional Student Exchange Program (PSEP), Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE), and Western Regional Graduate Program (WRGP). They saved some $4.8 million in tuition and fees this year through WUE, which enables New Mexico’s students to enroll in institutions in other states and pay 150 percent of resident tuition. Over 800 of New Mexico’s undergraduate students, as well as a number of graduate students, are currently enrolled in out-of-state programs via WICHE. Through PSEP, 63 of New Mexico’s professional students are studying out of state in 2003-04 in five fields: dentistry, veterinary medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, and library science. About 65 percent of these students return to the state to practice.

New Mexico has been an active participant in several other WICHE projects, including the
Western Consortium for Accelerated Learning Opportunities (WCALO). Funded with $2.4
million from the federal Advanced Placement Incentive Program over two years, the ninestate consortium is increasing the number of low-income students enrolling and succeeding in Advanced Placement courses and other accelerated-learning options. Under the auspices of this program, the state is working to improve college access and success for large numbers of underserved youth, including low-income, minority, and first-generation students.

More about WICHE

WICHE’s 15 member states – Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming – work collaboratively to promote innovation, cooperation, resource sharing, and sound public policy among states and institutions, strengthening higher education's contributions to the region's social, economic, and civic life. In addition to its Student Exchange, WICHE’s programs include WCET (Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications), an international leader in helping states and institutions use new technologies to improve education; Policy Analysis and Research; Mental Health; and the Consortium for North American Higher Education Collaboration (CONAHEC), a rapidly expanding trilateral initiative. Another initiative, the Northwest Academic Forum, addresses regional higher education issues and engages in cooperative resource sharing; a current effort, dubbed NEON (Northwest Educational Outreach Network), will broaden student access to higher education through an innovative interstate collaboration that taps the “anywhere, anytime” benefits of distance education.

Each state has three gubernatorially appointed commissioners, who help guide the work of the commission: Dede Feldman, state senator, Albuquerque; Everett Frost, president emeritus and professor emeritus (Anthropology Department), Eastern New Mexico University, Portales; and Patricia Anaya Sullivan, assistant director, WERC, Las Cruces, currently serve New Mexico on the commission. In addition, WICHE's Legislative Advisory Committee works to strengthen state policymaking in higher education, engaging legislators in the discussion of higher ed issues and seeking their input on strategies for interstate collaboration. Sen. Pete Campos, Las Vegas; Sen. Dede Feldman, Albuquerque; and Rep. Danice Picraux, Bernalillo, represent New Mexico on this committee.

A legislative reception to honor WICHE’s 50th anniversary and New Mexico’s participation in the commission will be held on the evening of Feb. 5, 2004, at the Gerald Peters Gallery in Santa Fe.

2/03/2004

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