Ten Emerging Trends from the 2012 Legislative Session

Jun 29, 2012 by Matthew Smith

What’s Inside?

ECS’ Boosting College Completion project produced an Emerging Trends document, which surfaces ten legislative trends from this year.

While legislatures covered a wide array of issues, most of the trends include a prominent workforce element. Even issues appearing peripheral to workforce development, such as increased scrutiny of for-profit institutions and expanded use of competitive grants, have a substantial workforce basis.

Browsing the document, you will find an explanation of specific trends, the states enacting policies in this space, and a policy example that illuminates the issue.

Year of the…?

The 2011 legislative session was the Year of Performance Funding. With one in four states enacting policies related to performance funding, we wondered if the issue would make an encore in 2012. To our surprise, only one state (i.e., Florida) has considered performance funding in 2012.

While policymakers are concerned about higher education finance and the role of the state in that process, a Boosting College Completion policy scan surfaced ten emerging trends. The four candidates for “Year of…” are:

Veterans’ Education

Expanded Use of Competitive Grants & Program Piloting

Legislative Actions that Promote Workforce Alignment

Nontraditional Approaches to Common Legislative Actions

We proclaim 2012 the Year of Workforce Alignment because legislatures have invested so much energy in developing strategies that more efficiently and effectively drive students toward high-demand college credentials.