Staben: More Idaho students should go to college

About two years ago, as an applicant for the presidency at the University of Idaho, I was traveling to Boise to meet with the state Board of Education. Stopping in Grangeville, I struck up a conversation with our server at a local diner. The young man — a high school senior — said he’d never really thought about college. He hadn’t applied. Many of his friends hadn’t, either. That day, I started thinking about how to change that situation and promote a college-going culture in Idaho.

This is the time of year high school seniors across our region begin weighing the options for life after high school. They are fortunate to have many excellent colleges and universities nearby. Unfortunately, too many students will choose not to continue their education, especially in Idaho, where 50 percent of high school seniors do not “go on.” The consequences of that choice are stark: Young people forgo an experience with the power to transform their lives, and our region misses out on the potential unleashed through higher education.

Attending college starts with an application. Unfortunately, that first step can actually be fairly complex. I experienced that firsthand when I applied for admission to UI to test our procedures. Idaho, though, has the nation’s only unified K-20 system, providing a unique opportunity to make immediate, straightforward changes.

The Idaho State Board of Education is moving forward with those changes: This fall, qualified public high school students and their parents will receive a letter from the board. This is not an open admissions process. Accounting for each student’s track record of high school achievement, the letter explains to students which public colleges and universities they have been conditionally admitted to. You’re in, it says, and we want you to come.

These are students who can and should succeed in college. But each year as many as 5,000 qualified Idaho high school graduates don’t attend any postsecondary institution. Our intent is to clarify options for students and spur interest in completing enrollment, especially for students who might have had the mistaken assumption that college was not in their future. That includes many potential first-generation college attendees and students from rural areas.

The University of Idaho will follow up on the state’s letter with proactive communications, and with a special event — called Enroll Idaho — on Tuesday, Nov. 10. UI will host 43 statewide informational sessions for students who received a letter to explain the new process and detail how college can change their lives. I’ll return to Grangeville on that day to meet with students. I’ll then head to Coeur d’Alene that evening for our Kootenai County event.

In each town, in each county, our simple message is: Learn about all your options — but choose an option, and move forward with it. Attending college will transform your life, and it will transform the communities in which you will one day live.

For our region to share in the prosperity of an increasingly knowledge-based, global economy, a highly educated workforce is essential. That means more professionals with the problem-solving skills and experience to contribute to industries of today and tomorrow across North Idaho and Eastern Washington.

We’re taking additional steps to change the college-going culture in Idaho. I’ve tasked our James A. and Louise McClure Center for Public Policy Research with studying the transition from K-12 to postsecondary education. When we learn more about how and why students make their choices about postsecondary participation, including non-attendance, stakeholders will be able to design policies and practices that more effectively promote college attendance. The McClure Center will release its Idaho at a Glance report on the subject in January 2016. We also plan to follow up throughout the spring with FAFSA and financial aid workshops at our statewide Extension centers and at recruitment events.

A college degree is not for everyone, but for many more students, it can and should be the pathway to a great life — to the American Dream. Working together, we’ll start by removing some of the hurdles to college. We’ll go further by proactively building awareness about next steps for students. And we’ll finish by changing the question on the minds of our young people from “Should I go to college?” to “Where should I go to college?”

Chuck Staben is the president of the University of Idaho.