Higher education is needed now more than ever, even as many have questioned the value of going to college, President Colin Irvine said during a recent Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber event, “A New Era in Education.”
“Because of the technology changes and the workforce need changes, we need more people with these degrees than we’ve ever had,” Irvine said during the panel discussion with the presidents of Minnesota State Community and Technical College and Minnesota State University Moorhead. “Helping people understand that is the challenge.”
To take on that challenge, the three presidents committed to continuing collaboration.
Irvine is also tackling the perception issue by doubling down on the college’s focus on place-based learning. With Irvine’s initiative, the college is working with community partners as it creates programming and designs opportunities around experiential learning.
“We are very quickly at Concordia adding programs that speak to the question, ‘will you get a job when you graduate?’” Irvine said. “Yes, absolutely. And you'll have job-like experiences while you're in college.”
He said Concordia is in a Goldilocks zone, where students can get a well-rounded experience in a single day without having to leave the community. It also provides easier access for faculty and staff to go directly to business leaders to build relationships and opportunities that benefit students and companies.
“It’s hard to do that in the Twin Cities when it’s that large,” he said.
Irvine also invited business leaders to connect with faculty through colleges’ career centers, noting that institutions are designed to take projects from the outside and create valuable research.
The Concordia Promise
An issue raised at the event was the cost of college. The presidents spoke about how Minnesota’s North Star Promise, which provides residents from families making less than $80,000 a year with free tuition at public schools, is helping make college more accessible to marginalized communities.
In response to the legislation, Concordia unveiled the Concordia Promise, offering free tuition to students nationwide whose families earn less than $90,000.
To best serve students and their communities, Irvine would like to see private colleges included in the North Star Promise.
“We want all students to discern where the best place is for them to have their experience, in part because that's where they’ll probably end up staying to serve their communities,” he said.