Contact: Allison Matthews
STARKVILLE, Miss.--The future of higher education access will be examined Tuesday [Feb. 17] at a special Mississippi State public program.
Taking place 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Hunter Henry Center on the west side of campus, the free-to-all workshop is organized by the university's John C. Stennis Institute of Government and Community Development and The University of Alabama's Education Policy Center.
The event's formal title is "Free Community College Tuition and the Future of Access: A Public Policy Discussion."
Speakers will include: Stephen Katsinas, a higher education professor who directs The University of Alabama's Education Policy Center. His topic will be "Federal and State Funding for Higher Education: Progress and Prospects." Additionally, Vice Chancellor for Community Colleges with the Tennessee Board of Regents Warren Nichols will explain the Tennessee Promise program that provides eligible high school graduates with scholarships for Volunteer State community colleges or technical schools.
Other community college leaders from Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky and Mississippi also are part of the daylong program's panel discussions. A keynote luncheon address will be given by W. Martin "Marty" Wiseman, Stennis Institute executive director emeritus.
More than 150 participants are expected to attend, said Tyson Elbert, Stennis Institute research associate and education policy fellowship program coordinator.
Elbert said the workshop will be a nationally focused exploration of a topic addressed by President Barack Obama in his recent State of the Union address.
In emphasizing the need for improved, affordable access for all Americans, the president said that by decade's end "two in three job openings will require some higher education. And yet, we still live in a country where too many bright, striving Americans are priced out of the education they need. It's not fair to them, and it's not smart for our future."
Elbert said the workshop has been designed to facilitate "an objective conversation to advance the dialogue throughout the nation as both government and higher education leaders make strategic decisions about future policies."
Joining the institute and UA's Education Policy Center as event sponsors are MSU's leadership and foundations department in the College of Education and the Mississippi Appalachia Higher Education Initiative.
For additional workshop details, contact Elbert at 662-325-3328 or tyson@sig.msstate.edu. The Stennis Institute's website is www.sig.msstate.edu.
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