With a burgeoning
student population, how can we create a system that truly serves
all? How can a unified P-16 approach enhance student access? What
is its potential for being more effective than our traditional
K-12/ higher ed approach? Why haven’t we been more effective
in widening the successful participation of underrepresented students?
Is there a strong public will to continue advancing equal access
and making the changes in elementary and secondary education to
ensure that all students are prepared to do college-level work?
WICHE Projects:
Our Student Exchange Programs
– the Professional Student Exchange Program, the Western
Regional Graduate Program, and the Western Undergraduate Exchange
– continue to be the cornerstone of our access initiative.
A major access-related endeavor for 2003 is our work with the
Pathways
to College Network, an alliance of private and corporate
foundations, nonprofits, educational institutions, and the U.S.
Dept. of Education. Pathways’ goal is to improve access
to higher education for disadvantaged students and help prepare
them to take advantage of what higher ed has to offer. Another
project, the Western
Consortium for Accelerated Learning Opportunities,
funded by a grant from the U.S. Dept. of Education’s Advanced
Placement Incentive Program, is a partnership of Western states
working to increase the number of low-income and rural students
succeeding in accelerated-learning courses. To support better
planning and informed policy making, WICHE is updating its projections
of high school graduates; in addition to projecting
by state and race/ethnicity, the next report will also include
projections by income level. A project developed by the Western
Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications (WCET)
helps colleges and universities to creat Web-based student services
for online learners.
