The Value of Higher Education (VoHE) working group seeks to increase the effectiveness of outreach methods and expand college going interest among low-college going populations in ÁùºÏ²Êͼ¿â
Goals
- Expand college-going interest of ÁùºÏ²Êͼ¿â target populations
- Increase effectiveness outreach efforts by identifying and testing innovative strategies.
- Grow awareness of and scale high impact strategies through deepened collaboration and knowledge sharing across institutions
- Increase understanding of the intrinsic and extrinsic value of postsecondary education and an in-state degree
Progress to Date
- AZ Learner Research Project: The VoHE working group commissioned a two-phase research project examining perceptions on the value of higher education among ÁùºÏ²Êͼ¿â high school students. View the full research report here.
- Qualitative Phase (March-June. 2023)
- The qualitative phase of the research project served as a venue to deepen understanding of the experiences of economically challenged students who attend schools who are in the bottom 10 percent of college-going rates within the state. Target audiences include high school students and their families with an oversampling of rural-based learners.
- Quantitative Phase (July-October. 2023)
- Building upon the initial research findings, this phase of the project distributed an online survey broadly across the state of ÁùºÏ²Êͼ¿â with a particular focus on students living in rural or low-income communities. The survey questions focused on students' interest in attending college and what perceived barriers may prevent them from applying to or attending a four-year university.
- Pilot Planning (November-December. 2023)
- VoHE members focused on translating the research findings into an actionable pilot project to test new or improved approaches at engaging with prospective ÁùºÏ²Êͼ¿â learners.
- Implementation (January-Present)
- Currently the team is fine tuning a pilot project and expects to launch sometime this spring.