RD361 - Update on State of Virginia College Access Provider Activity - November 2, 2015


Executive Summary:
In the fall of 2008, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) commissioned a research study comparing the college access provider resources in Virginia to the access and academic achievement needs of the state. That study – conducted by researchers from the College of William and Mary and West Carolina University – resulted in the 2009 report entitled A Statewide Examination of College Access Services and Resources in Virginia (Alleman, Stimpson, & Holly, 2009) (*1). This multi-faceted research report (1) provided information on the distribution and the types of college access providers across the state, (2) used state and division level data to calculate an index for access need by school division, and (3) collected information from access providers about program activities and areas for additional attention.

In May 2015, SCHEV, in conjunction with Virginia529 released an Institutional Partnership Opportunity to conduct a second access study that replicated and expanded the scope of the 2009 report. The goal of this second access study is to understand change in the landscape of college access providers as well as the relationship between college access work and access need in communities across the state. As a continuation of the 2009 study and with a charge from the Senate Finance committee, SCHEV is coordinating the follow up study through an agreement with the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium (MERC) at Virginia Commonwealth University to conduct the study. This agreement was reached in October of 2015.

As a first step in updating the earlier research, MERC has undertaken an examination designed to elicit the perspectives of key leaders within the Virginia college access field. Two research questions guide this study:

1. What progress has been made in the state in relation to six areas identified in the 2009 report for increased provider activity?

2. What further recommendations emerge for improving statewide coordination, support, information sharing, and data gathering to address the varied needs identified?

Through a set of qualitative interviews (n=7) with state access leaders, we sought insight into these two questions.

This report on our exploratory study begins with an overview of relevant components of the earlier report, A Statewide Examination of College Access Services and Resources in Virginia (below referred to simply as the “2009 Access Study”), including a brief discussion of its method and a review of key findings related to increased access provider activity. We then discuss the method we used to identify participants, collect, and analyze data for this report. Finally, we present key findings related to the two research questions above. This will include discussions of each of the six areas for increased provider activity, new changes and trends in college access, and tentative recommendations for future state-level access work.
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(*1) Alleman, N. F., Stimpson, R. L., and Holly, L. N. (2009). A statewide examination of college access services and resources in Virginia. Richmond, VA: The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.