FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RICHMOND — The State Council for Higher Education of Virginia (SCHEV) released the annual report for Pathways to Opportunity: The Virginia Plan for Higher Education. Approved in January 2021, the plan identifies trends that the Commonwealth must address if it is to continue to prosper and succeed. This report summarizes the three statutory goals (equitable, affordable and transformative), key findings from a baseline assessment of where Virginia stands relative to the statutory goals, as well as upcoming and recent activities that directly support The Pathways to Opportunity Plan.
The Pathways to Opportunity Plan is intended to help guide a vision for Virginia’s future through a common framework, which includes three intrinsically connected goals of equitable, affordable and transformative higher education. Equity also serves as an underpinning of the entire plan. When achieved, the three goals will result in Virginia being the “Best State for Education” and will mean a 70% educational attainment rate for all 25- to -64 year working-aged Virginians by 2030. Ten strategies support the goals. Five measures assess progress toward achieving the three goals.
The Code of Virginia vests SCHEV with the responsibility to develop a statewide strategic plan that reflects statutory goals for higher education in The Commonwealth, identifies a coordinated approach to such state and regional goals and emphasizes the future needs for higher education in Virginia.
Said Peter Blake, SCHEV’s director, “This year serves as a baseline for the plan. The report’s key findings note a number of disparities by race, income, region and gender. As higher ed addresses the strategies in the plan, we would expect to see those gaps diminish. We will be measuring that progress over the life of the plan.”
The full reports and all SCHEV reports are available at schev.edu/reports.
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Media resources including news advisories, logos and releases are available at www.schev.edu/media.
The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia is the state’s coordinating agency for higher education. With Pathways to Opportunity: The Virginia Plan for Higher Education, SCHEV is dedicated to making Virginia the best state for education by 2030. For more on this statewide strategic plan, visit schev.edu/TheVirginiaPlan.
