WICHE & Nevada 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 Nevada 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.

Nevada has been an integral part of WICHE since joining in 1959. Originally founded in 1952 to broaden access to medical, dental, and veterinary schools for students in states that didn’t support such programs, WICHE currently enrolls more than 18,000 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.

Nevada'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 $2.9 million in tuition and fees this year through WUE, which enables Nevada’s students to enroll in institutions in other states and pay 150 percent of resident tuition. Almost 700 of Nevada’s undergraduate students, as well as a number of graduate students, are currently enrolled in out-of-state programs via WICHE. In addition, some 2,600 students from other states enrolled in Nevada institutions through WUE this year, filling slots in programs that have excess capacity. Through PSEP, 80 Nevada professional students are studying out of state in 2002-03 in five fields: dentistry, veterinary medicine, optometry, physician assistant, and pharmacy; about 70 percent of these students return to the state to practice.

Nevada has been an active participant in several other WICHE programs. The University of Nevada-Reno and University of Nevada-Las Vegas belong to the Northwest Academic Forum, whose members address regional higher education issues and engage 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. These Nevada institutions and others are also members of WCET (the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications), which advances the effective use of technology in higher education.

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.

Each state has three gubernatorially appointed commissioners, who help guide the work of the commission: Jane Nichols, chancellor, University and Community College System of Nevada, Reno; Sen. Raymond D. Rawson, Las Vegas; and Carl Shaff, educational consultant, Nevada State Dept. of Education, Reno, currently serve Nevada 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. Terry Care, Las Vegas; Assembly Member Sheila Leslie, Reno; and Sen. Ray Rawson, Las Vegas represent Nevada on this committee.

A legislative breakfast to honor WICHE’s 50th anniversary and Nevada’s participation in the commission will be held in Reno at the State Legislature on February 27, 2003.

2/21/2003

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