Dr. Quaglia said that there are many good ideas on aspirations being circulated in educational circles around the state, but there needs to be more coordination of initiatives and activities. Lastly, he suggested that everyone remember what it was like to be a child and how aspirations can be encouraged or discouraged. He distributed a handout entitled Statistical Information on Student Aspirations and Higher Education Policy in Maine, which is appended to the file of these minutes, and briefly walked the Board through the tables it contained. He noted that tuition costs are higher in Maine than in many comparable states and that ways need to be found to reduce those costs. Maine is also a net exporter of students who go on to college and ways need to be found to turn that around.
Maine also has a lower rate of two-year programs.
The reasons cited are that comparable institutions have lower tuition, more available programs, and more transferability to four-year institutions than do Maine institutions. In those states that have a higher percentage of students who pursue advanced degrees, it has been shown that their institutions have well-known, high quality programs that have a national or regional reputations. In conclusion, Dr. Silvernail suggested that programs such as Dr. Quaglia's are important in order to know what students' aspirations are. He said it is also important to know what the barriers are for non-traditional students, and to learn from other comparable states what they are doing to retain and increase student participation in higher education. Working with the various area high schools in adult education, Ms. Kane and the team are looking at the issues listed above to develop a project entitled the Seamless Transition.