Online Degrees in Virginia (VA)

The Virginia Business Higher Education Council, a nonpartisan, nonprofit partnership between Virginia's higher education leadership and the state's business community, formed a "Grow By Degrees" coalition in 2009 to create educational change and job opportunities in Virginia. The organization notes that "Virginia still ranks disappointingly just above the national average" for college attendance and acknowledges that Virginia needs a steady increase in the number of state residents earning degrees to improve this standing.

To show the value of college education in Virginia and garner public support, Grow By Degrees (GBD) relies heavily on the September 2009 "Study of the Economic Impact of Virginia Public Higher Education" by Terance J. Rephann, Ph.D., John L. Knapp, Ph.D. and William B. Shobe, Ph.D., of the University of Virginia. The study illustrates the hidden value of higher education in Virginia:

• Higher education operations support 144,550 jobs in Virginia.
• Every dollar Virginia spends on post-secondary education creates $1.39 in tax revenue and $13.31 in increased economic growth.
• Government social program spending is reduced: a lifetime amount of $28,047 per high school graduate versus $5,047 per bachelor's degree recipient.

Since 2000, the state's per capita college funding has been cut by 40 percent for four-year institutions and by 30 percent for community colleges, a period the GBD coalition calls the "decade of disinvestment." In 2010, the state reduced funding for public higher education by 27 percent, according to the 2010-2011 tuition and fees report from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV). Lack of funding is resulting in a cycle of increased tuition costs, the latest being a 10.6 percent increase in tuition and mandatory fees for the 2010-2011 academic year. Political, business and education leaders recognize the value of college degrees to Virginia's economy, and are actively working on improving higher education affordability.

In 2005, Virginia state legislature passed The Restructured Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act so that public colleges and universities would have more operational autonomy in pursuit of their educational missions. Each higher education institution committed to goals to improve student retention, increase academic program offerings and increase access to high education. Each institution submitted a six-year plan and distance education, including online learning, was a component of only four of 17 state institutions' plans to achieve target goals.

Recently, the state made strides to address its policies toward online education and education innovation. The governor's bipartisan Commission on Higher Education Reform, Innovation and Investment targets a balance of reforms and investment to extend "college degree opportunities to more citizens in creative, cost-effective ways." Among the strategies recommended was an expanded use of online course offerings, electronic textbooks and "Virtual Departments" that allow efficient use of resources across the state's higher education system.

By providing a greater number of targeted online degrees in Virginia, state college and universities can help what the Commission describes as an "educational and economic endeavor [that] must work for the students it seeks to serve and serve the Virginians who seek to work."

Top jobs in Virginia can be in fast-growing occupations or jobs that pay generously. Three of the top five projected highest-growth jobs in Virginia for 2008-2018, as indicated by the Virginia Workforce Connection, require at least a four-year college degree. All five of the highest-paying jobs require graduate-level medical education (Virginia salary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics).

5 fastest growing occupations (growth/2010 mean salary)

1. Biomedical engineering (6.5 percent/$80,960)
2. Home health assisting (6.0 percent/$19,530)
3. Home and personal care assisting (5.4 percent/$18,590)
4. Network systems and data communications analysis (5.4 percent/$81,180)
5. Epidemiology (5.3 percent/$69,090)

5 top-pay occupations in Virginia (2010 average salary)

1. Anesthesiology ($236,760)
2. Surgery ($226,960)
3. Oral and maxillofacial surgery ($225,110)
4. Obstetrics and gynecology ($221,420)
5. Dentistry ($191,850)

As Virginia works to strengthen its economy through investment into and reform of its higher education system, the citizens are the ultimate beneficiaries. New education legislation signed by the Governor in June 2011 created 6,000 additional openings for in-state students for fall 2011 semester. As access to college degree programs and online education in Virginia continues to increase, a more educated, better-paid workforce is expected to create economic stability for the entire state.