Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2004 | 9:37 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- The state's Millennium Scholarship program probably will not do much to increase the low percentage of Nevada students who go directly from high school to college, a consultant told state lawmakers Tuesday.
That prediction came during the first report to the Committee to Evaluate Higher Education Programs by Dennis Jones, president of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems of Boulder, Colo.
The committee hired the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems as a consultant as it looks for ways to improve Nevada's higher education system. The Legislature is paying the consultant $187,000.
One of the many areas of concern is Nevada's low rate of high school graduates going directly to college. In 2000, the most recent year for which comparative statistics were available, Nevada's rate was 40.3 percent, the second lowest in the nation. Only Utah was lower, at 38.1 percent, but Jones explained that was because so many of Utah's high school graduates go on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as soon as they graduate from high school. Sen. Warren Hardy, R-Las Vegas, the chairman of the committee, suggested Nevada's percentage was better since the state started its Millennium Scholarship program in 1999. But Jones said the experience in other states indicates that main result of scholarship programs such as Nevada's is they keep the scholarship recipients at in-state schools.
"It is unlikely (the Millennium Scholarship) has made a large difference in the participation rate" of those going to college, Jones said.
Jones also ran down various other statistics that underscore how and why Nevada's educational level is "relatively low" compared to the rest of the states.
Many of these figures had been disclosed previously, but Jones' report pulled them all together to show the whole picture, Hardy said.
Among the states, Nevada ranks last in the nation with only 66.7 percent of those ages 18 to 24 having a high school diploma. In 2000, 195,722 people in Nevada did not have high school diplomas, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Jones told the legislative committee that 2,000 residents last year obtained GEDs.
But, he added, "GEDs are not the solution to the high school problem."
Statistics also show that 41.3 percent of those attending Nevada's universities gain a bachelor's degree within six years. That's below the national average of 53 percent and that puts Nevada 11th-lowest in the nation. The committee also received a report Tuesday from Jane Nichols, chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education, about how resident undergraduate fees at UNLV and UNR are the second-lowest among public universities in the West.
In 2002, the California State University was lowest at $1,943 followed by Nevada at $2,490 of the 14 schools in the comparison. The median was $3,278 for the schools involved in the Western Interstate Compact of Higher Education. Tuition at the University of California was $3,850.
Nevada was fifth-lowest of the 14 schools in tuition for resident students at community colleges. The average in Nevada was $1,483; the lowest was California at $330 and the highest at $2,252 in North Dakota. The median was $1,640.
The report showed that student fees support 21.8 percent of the state-supported operating budget for the Nevada university system. Nationally, students pay 21 to 31 percent, depending on the type of institution attended, Nichols said.
Legislators asked about the progress of the Nevada State College, which opened in Henderson in the fall of 2002. With three weeks remaining for enrollment, the school has 483 students signed up for the 2004 spring semester. Although that is less than the total enrollment of 512 for the 2003 fall semester, the number of full time-equivalent students is 358 so far for the spring semester compared with 330 for the previous semester, Nichols said.
Kerry Romesburg, president of the state college, predicted the school will have 3,000 students by 2007-2008.
Sen. Terry Care, D-Las Vegas, asked how the drive was going to raise $10 million to match state funds for the first building at the state college. Only $1 million has been raised to date, he was told. Romesburg said he met recently with a potential contributor who may donate $2 million to $2.5 million. Romesburg said he still anticipates having the full $10 million by December. Nichols said Romesburg has "exceeded the goals" since he took over as president.
The 2001 Legislature authorized $16 million for the college but required the school to raise $10 million on its own to earn the state money. Nichols told lawmakers Tuesday that she believed the money would be raised. She said the college has "a great piece of land" that has been donated and she does not anticipate abandoning the project.
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