College Board Colloquium Addresses Economic Crisis, New Administration
 |
Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education, gave the keynote address at Colloquium 2009. |
The current economic crisis, trends in international education and President Barack Obama's education policies were prominent topics of discussion at Colloquium 2009, the College Board's annual gathering of enrollment professionals from member institutions. Molly Corbett Broad, the president of the American Council on Education, gave the keynote address at the event, which took place Jan. 12-14 in Delray Beach, Fla. Broad echoed fellow speaker College Board President Gaston Caperton in emphasizing the new competitive landscape for American higher education amid advances in China's and India's education systems and the United States' declining rankings among economically developed nations in educational attainment.
"A line I'm enjoying saying these days is 'a crisis is a terrible thing to waste,'" Broad said. "This nation in peril can call upon one of the strongest assets we have — our education system — and use it as a catalyst to help turn the country around." She shared ACE's recommendations for the federal economic stimulus package to provide funding for K-12 and higher education, including an increase in the maximum Pell Grant and block grants by state for "shovel-ready" infrastructure projects at academic facilities across all types of institutions.
She also discussed her work as a member of the College Board's Commission on Access, Admissions and Success in Higher Education. "ACE and the College Board are perfectly aligned and doing work collaboratively and independently on six of the priorities in the commission's report." Among the recommendations is the need to do a better job of serving adults without college degrees and to help young people of color from low-income families improve their levels of attainment. She cited the increasing number of middle-aged displaced workers, such as those from the auto industry. "One of the important reasons to step up to older adults is to demonstrate that we know how to live the values we write in our mission statements of openness, inclusiveness and commitment to public service."
"A crisis shouldn't be wasted," she concluded. "We must use this moment as an opportunity to breathe new life into what we do. ... We have the tools; it's time to pull up our socks and start using them."
For more on the Colloquium, visit the membership page.
