• Focus : Colorado

    Colorado joined the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), a 15-state commission working to boost access to and success in higher education for students in the West, in 1951. Colorado and WICHE have shared a remarkably productive history. But more importantly the state and its citizens reap essential economic and educational benefits today, saving millions of dollars annually while ensuring the state’s “human capital” is educated and ready to participate in a highly competitive global economy.


    In 2008-09 Colorado students and their families saved over $15 million in tuition by participating in WICHE’s Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE), plus another $852,000 through the Professional Student Exchange Program (PSEP) and Western Regional Graduate Program (WRGP). Two Colorado universities received more than $5.1 million in tuition revenues in 2008-09 through WICHE’s programs in dentistry, medicine, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, and other disciplines. WICHE’s offices are located in Boulder, further boosting the state’s economy.

     

    Doing the Math: Colorado's Return on Investment

    In 2008-09 Colorado, its institutions, and its students saved or brought in over $20 million through WICHE and spent $120,000 for membership in the commission, yielding a 166-fold return on investment.
     
    In the last 5 years, Colorado students’ savings from WUE alone have topped $95 million, with membership dues of just $561,000, yielding a 169-fold return.

     


    How does Colorado benefit as a WICHE state?

    WICHE’s programs save Colorado money and enhance the use of its educational resources in several critical ways.

     

    > When funding is reduced, access to higher ed can be preserved because students have affordable out-of-state options via WICHE.

     

    > Colorado’s public colleges and universities are able to increase enrollment in programs with extra capacity – and bring in much needed educational dollars – by enrolling students from other WICHE states.

     

    > Colorado saves money by not having to establish and maintain costly programs in a number of essential or leading-edge areas because its students have access to out-of-state programs.

     

    > Colorado vastly increases the resources it has for training its workforce: the majority of its professional students who train through WICHE’s PSEP return to the state to work and live.

    What student programs does WICHE offer?

    Almost 2,600 students from Colorado are attending undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs in other Western states through WICHE’s three student exchange programs this year (Figure 1 breaks down tuition savings, as well as the revenue from incoming students). State membership in WICHE is required for students to participate in these programs.
     
    Western Undergraduate Exchange. Some 20,000 Colorado students have enrolled in out-of-state undergraduate programs through WUE in the last decade. Nearly 2,500 Colorado students are enrolled in 2008-09.
     
    > Colorado students saved more than $14 million in tuition and fees this year, with an average savings of $5,730, by paying the WUE rate of 150 percent of resident tuition in their enrolling institutions.
     
    > The top majors of Colorado’s WUE students are: nursing, mechanical and civil engineering, business, elementary education, and hospitality administration.
     
    Colorado also benefits from WUE by receiving students from out of state – 1,562 this year. Its institutions choose how many out-of-state slots to offer and in which areas, allowing them to make the best use of their resources by accepting students in underenrolled programs. There’s a workforce benefit for the state, too, as students often stay in Colorado after graduating.
     
    Professional Student Exchange Program. Colorado has sent students to professional programs through PSEP since 1957. It currently supports 26 students in optometry, while receiving 202 students in six professional schools and some $5.1 million in support fees from other Western states. Historically, 71 percent of outbound PSEP students have returned to Colorado to pursue their professional careers.
     
    Western Regional Graduate Program. Colorado’s postgraduates participate in graduate programs through WRGP, which offers access to over 200 high-quality, distinctive programs (“distinctive” meaning that they’re offered at only four or fewer institutions in the WICHE region as well as to a range of healthcare programs) at 39 institutions in 14 WICHE states. Colorado sent 47 students to out-of-state institutions in 2008-09, while receiving 107.
    Internet Course Exchange (ICE). Thirty institutions and systems work towards sharing distance-delivered courses through WICHE’s newest exchange, ICE. Adams State College is a member of ICE and other Colorado institutions may also join.

    WICHE's Added Value

    Colorado gains added value from WICHE's programs in policy, workforce development, technology, mental health, and other areas.

     

    Workforce Development. WICHE works with Colorado to link higher education and workforce issues. In spring 2009 state delegates attended the Rocky Mountain Collaborative to Transform the Health Professions Workforce meeting.
     
    Policy Assistance. Colorado participates in WICHE’s “Non-traditional No More” project, funded by Lumina Foundation for Education. WICHE is working with state leaders to identify the “ready adult” population – those who have almost enough credits to graduate but who have not yet returned to college – and help them earn their degrees. Over two years the state will receive $65,000 and technical assistance.
     
    WICHE recently completed an evaluation of the College Opportunity Fund (COF), under contract with the Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE). It analyzed the intent of COF legislation and its implementation to discover whether COF is accomplishing what it was meant to do. Previously, WICHE provided technical assistance with the proposed redesign of Colorado’s state need-based grant program. WICHE is also working with Colorado on a Gates-funded grant to expand the analytical capacity for policy development and improvement through linked longitudinal data systems.
     
    Colorado was a member of the Western Consortium for Accelerated Learning Opportunities, funded by the Department of Education and designed to build capacity among the Western states to better serve students, principally low-income and underrepresented students, with advanced placement courses and tests. Colorado was allotted $442,000 for online advanced placement enrollment, teacher training, test-fee reimbursement for low-income students, and other work. Low-income student participation increased, as indicated by advanced placement test-fee reimbursements to them, which climbed by over 230 percent within four years. WICHE also helped convene a state roundtable focused on accelerated learning.
     
    WICHE partnered with CDHE to convene the 2007 “Creating a Vision for the Future” summit, which focused on higher education financing and brought together key state leaders – the governor and his staff, the lieutenant governor, legislative representatives, higher education CEOs, and others.
     
    Technology. Twelve Colorado organizations and institutions – public and private universities and community colleges – are members of WCET (formerly the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications), which provides access to the latest and best e-learning information resources and practices.    
     
    Mental Health. The Mental Health Program assesses unmet need and disparities in care for low-income Coloradans. Recent projects have focused on youth with serious emotional disturbance, adults with serious mental illness, and adults with substance use and co-occurring disorders. The program established the WICHE Rural Mental Health Research Center in collaboration with the University of Colorado Health Science Center and Kaiser Permanente and also started a collaboration with University of Colorado Ben Nighthorse Campbell Center for Health and Human Sciences on improving services to Colorado Veterans. It worked on integrating behavioral health with primary care with the Colorado Rural Health Association; assisted in writing the State Suicide Prevention and Intervention Plan; and assisted with presentations to the state’s Behavioral Task Force. Staff members sit on committees for the Colorado Trust’s Health Professions Collaborative and the Colorado Rural Recruitment and Retention Network.

    Meetings & Other Initiatives    . WICHE has held numerous national and regional meetings in Colorado. Recent meetings focused on workforce certification and workforce database development, as well as on a project that encourages high schoolers to take a rigorous curriculum. The WICHE Commission meeting brings participants from 15 states to Colorado biannually. Colorado is also engaged in other WICHE initiatives.
     
    The University of Northern Colorado participates in the Master Property Program, which helps institutions reduce their insurance premiums and improve coverage. The state is active in WICHE’s Western Academic Leadership Forum, which addresses regional higher education issues and resource sharing: Colorado State University is a member.

     

    Our goal with both meetings and projects is to assist educational leaders and policymakers by advocating for good public policy in the West. A third way we accomplish this is via our publication series, including Policy Insights and Workforce Briefs, which explore a wide range of significant policy issues. We also publish in-depth works such as Knocking at the College Door: Projections of High School Graduates by State and Race/Ethnicity and the Regional Fact Book for Higher Education in the West, which includes data and analyses on fiscal, demographic, economic, and social indicators, as well as a state report providing Alaska data on access, affordability, finance, faculty, technology, and workforce issues. These resources can be downloaded at no cost from the WlCHE website.