Higher Education
"To compete in the global marketplace of the 21st century, we must provide our children with the skills they need to get a good job and increase their earning potential. We’ll do that by awarding 100,000 more college degrees in the next fifteen years."
Investing in Higher Education
Virginia is blessed with one of the nation’s best higher education systems. Our colleges and universities are second to none, and Lieutenant Governor Bolling is working hard to make certain that Virginia’s colleges and universities have the resources they need to help prepare students for the future.
Education is our best strategic investment in the future - the key to getting a good job, earning a higher salary and providing a higher quality of life for themselves and their families. Lieutenant Governor Bolling knows that we must do more to make certain that a college education is more available and more affordable for more Virginia students.
Governor McDonnell and Lieutenant Governor Bolling have set an aggressive goal of awarding 100,000 new college degrees in the next 15 years. To accomplish this goal, we must ch do more to encourage more students to seek out a college degree and obtain the skills they need to compete in the economic marketplace of the 21st century.
Unfortunately, in past the decade the state’s investment in our colleges and universities has plummeted. The result has been higher tuition for Virginia students and a tendency to admit more out of state students, which makes it more difficult for the sons and daughters of Virginia to get into our best schools.
In the past decade, tuition at Virginia’s four year universities has increased by 127%, while tuition at our community colleges has increased by 183%. These dramatic tuition increases make is more difficult for Virginia students to afford a quality education, and this is a trend that mustch be reversed.
In 2010, Governor McDonnell appointed the Governor’s Commission on Higher Education and Restructuring. The Commission is responsible for developing a long term strategic plan for supporting Virginia’s colleges and universities, coordinating academic programming and reemphasizing the importance of making certain that students have the skills they need to find a job.
In 2011, Governor McDonnell introduced his Top Jobs fFor tThe 21st Century program, the most comprehensive higher education reform package in years. This program was the first step in an ongoing effort to change our approach to higher education and implement reforms that are based on promoting greater economic opportunity for students, reducing the cost of a college education and higher education and tying future investments in higher education to performance based measures. To learn more about the Top Jobs for the 21st Century program, click here.
The Governor’s Commission on Higher Education Reform and Restructuring is continuing its work, and additional reforms and investments will be advanced as a result of their efforts. Lieutenant Governor Bolling serves as an ex-officio member of the Commission, and continues to play an active role in helping support the Commission’s recommendations.