EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This Scorecard is the fifth annual report of the status of certain aspects of public higher education in Colorado. It was prepared by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, with the cooperation of the six state higher education governing boards and the four local district colleges. The purpose of the Scorecard is to provide educators, public policy makers, and the public with a measurement of the performance of Colorado college students and the higher education system as a whole. Data is provided on the system, finances, students, and graduates.

Some of the most significant findings from this year's Scorecard, organized by broad subject category, follow.

The System

The public higher education system offers academic programs throughout the state, especially in the more highly populated counties. Without counting courses delivered through telecommunications or locations where individual coursework is offered, associate degrees are available at 27 sites, baccalaureate degrees at 16 sites, and graduate degrees at 21 sites.

Figure 1 Faculty diversity has increased in each of the last five years, with both a greater percentage of minorities (10.4 percent) and women (35.0 percent) in fall 1993 than ever before. shows the increased minority and female share of full-time faculty.

While average salaries of full-time faculty have increased over the last four years, they still are below the averages of peer institutions across the country. In 1992-93, the Research Universities came closest to matching peer averages (1 percent less), and the Community Colleges were the farthest from peer averages (15 percent less).

The ratios of student FTE to faculty FTE have decreased slightly for undergraduate students, and increased slightly for graduate students over the last five years. These ratios are close to the ratios computed by budget formulae with the exception of vocational courses, where the ratio is less than the formula.

Finance

Colorado dropped in the national comparison of total revenue per full-time equivalent student, from 35th among the states and the District of Columbia in 1992-93, to 49th in 1993-94.

While Colorado dropped in the national comparison, the actual revenue per FTE student continued to increase, up 18 percent over the last five years.

The overall 18 percent increase in revenue per student is primarily due to tuition increases. Over the last five years, general fund support per FTE student increased about 6 percent, while the increase in tuition income per student was over 30 percent.

Figure 2 and Figure 3 show the distribution of general fund and tuition revenue in 1989-90 and 1993-94. In 1989-90, the general fund was 57 percent of total revenue. In 1992-93, the general fund share decreased to 50 percent, shifting more of the system support to students.

Figure 2
Figure 2		 Figure 3
Figure 3

Total state general fund appropriations to higher education were a little over $425 million in 1993-94. Revenue from tuition income was $228 million for residents and $190 million for non-residents, for a combined total of $418 million. Five years ago, the difference between total tuition revenue and general fund appropriations totalled nearly $100 million.

Figure 4 shows the percent change in revenue per student for the general fund, resident tuition and non-resident tuition. Figure 5 shows the percent change in total revenue for those categories. In each case, the increases in revenue per student are not as high as the increases in total revenue, an indication that enrollment growth during this period exceeded the growth in funds to support that growth.

Figure 4
 Figure 5

Figure 6 shows the percent change in revenue per student compared to the percent change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) since 1989-90. Over this period, revenue per student increases were similar to inflation, slightly over in 1990-91 and 1992-93, and slightly under in 1991-92 and 1993-94.

Figure 6
Figure 6

Figure 7 shows the percent change in general fund, resident tuition and non-resident tuition revenue per student compared to the percent change in the CPI since 1989-90. Generally, the general fund increase was below inflation, while tuition increases exceeded inflation. Since the general fund made up a higher share of revenue than tuition (See and ), larger tuition increases were needed to maintain total funding per student close to inflation. In 1991-92, resident tuition income increased at a much higher rate than non-resident tuition income per student. This unusual shift was primarily the result of decreases in non-resident FTE at higher cost institutions.

Figure 7
Figure 7

The general assembly appropriated about $38 million to the public sector for financial aid in 1993-94, an increase of over 50 percent since 1989-90. The greatest share was for undergraduate need-based awards and work study. Nationally, Colorado ranks twenty-third in total undergraduate need-based grants.

Students

The college participation rate of recent high school graduates was 43.3 percent in fall 1993. Over the past five years, the participation of minority students has increased significantly. It is now fairly close to that of whites. Although the participation rate of blacks increased from 23.6 percent in fall 1989 to 33.3 percent in fall 1993, they are the only ethnic group with a rate lower than the state average.

The average ACT scores and combined SAT scores of first-time freshmen have remained very stable over the last five years, as have the state and national average scores for all graduating high school seniors.

Total student headcount enrollment has been increasing, but the growth leveled out and dropped slightly in fall 1993. The decrease from fall 1992 to fall 1993 was primarily at the Local District Colleges.

Figure 8 displays the number of high school graduates and in-state first-time freshmen for the last five years. The change in the number of first-time freshmen mirrored the change in high school graduates. The expected increase in high school graduates through the rest of this decade is expected to drive a similar increase in higher education, particularly at the four-year institutions.

Figure 8
Figure 8
Full-time equivalent (FTE) student enrollment also decreased slightly in 1993-94 after several years of steady increases. Overall, the growth since 1989-90 was 5 percent for residents and 16 percent for non-residents. The greatest increase has been at the community colleges.
Figure 9 shows the percent change in in-state and out-of-state FTE since 1989-90. 1993-94 was the only year that in-state enrollment decreased (-0.6 percent). While out-of-state enrollment increased each year over the period, the level of the increase has varied. A recent law limiting the percentage of out-of-state enrollment may limit or stabilize future change.

Figure 9
Figure 9

Graduates

The number of certificates and degrees granted increased dramatically over the last five years, especially for associate degrees (up 28.7 percent) and certificates (up 21.1 percent). Bachelor's degrees comprised about half of all degrees granted (15,782 out of 29,121) in 1993-94. See Figure 10.

Figure 10
Figure 10

The diversity of degree and certificate recipients continues to increase. In 1993-94, minorities comprised 19.4 percent of all certificate and associate degree recipients (up from 14.9 percent in 1989-90), 11.7 percent of bachelor's degrees (up from 9.2 percent in 1989-90), and 7.6 percent of graduate degrees (up from 6.1 percent in 1989-90).

Minorities accounted for 10 percent of all certificates and degrees awarded in 1989-90 (). Although the minority share increased to almost 13 percent in 1993-94 (), the statewide goal of an 18 percent minority share in the year 2000 remains a challenge.

Figure 11
Figure 11		 Figure 12
Figure 12

Completion rates (certificate, associate degree, or transfer to a four-year institution) for full-time, degree-seeking students starting in two-year programs have remained fairly stable, at about 34 percent after three years.

There continue to be large differences between completion rates for minority students and whites, with the comparable three-year rates at 27 percent for blacks, 28.1 percent for native Americans, and 24.5 percent for Hispanics. These rates have increased for blacks, up from 15.8 percent for the fall 1986 class, but have remained fairly constant for all other groups.

Graduation rates for students starting in a baccalaureate degree program (includes only completion of the degree, not transfers) have remained stable or decreased for the fall 1986 through fall 1990 entering classes of full-time, first-time freshmen. The graduation rate after four years dropped from 18.8 percent statewide, to 16.8 percent. The rate after five years dropped from 44.2 percent to 41.6 percent. The rate after six years, however, has remained fairly constant at almost 53 percent.

Although the rates for blacks and native Americans have increased, there are large differences between the graduation rates for whites and most minority groups. If the rates after six years for the fall 1988 class are compared, blacks are at 30.3 percent, native Americans at 41.1 percent, Hispanics at 36.9 percent, Asians at 52 percent, and whites at 55.5 percent.

Colorado graduates continue to score well compared to reference groups on licensure exams:

--     95.2 percent of University of Colorado at Boulder law graduates passed the bar exam the first time compared to a national percent of 86.5.
-- 43.3 percent of state system graduates who take the CPA exam pass the first time, compared to 33.8 percent nationally.
-- the percent of state system graduates passing the Registered Nurses exam the first time (92.9 percent) is comparable to the national average of 93.5 percent.

-- the percent of state system graduates passing the Practical Nurses exam the first time (95.3 percent) exceeds the national average of 90.9 percent.

Graduates who take the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) and who have their scores reported to their institution continue to score above the national average, 576 compared to 562 for the 1992-93 class.

Scorecard: Table of Contents