Fargo, N.D. – Earlier this week, legislators and higher education leaders attended the annual policy summit and commission meeting of the Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC) in Fargo, N.D. State Senator Ed Maloney (D-Chicago), Chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee, joined his colleagues to discuss how to improve postsecondary education access and graduation rates.

"Tight state budgets, 75 million baby boomers moving into retirement, plus the global competition for educated workers make it imperative that we focus on more citizens completing some form of higher education to ensure an educated workforce to drive a successful economy," stated MHEC President Larry Isaak.

"We must continue to fund higher education," Maloney said. "Education is one area we simply cannot cut. Businesses value an educated work force, and we cannot afford to hurt Illinois’ economic climate when we’re still struggling with the recession."

The group addressed how technology and the open source movement is lowering costs, improving learning, and transforming higher education. They also learned about successful degree and course completion initiatives as well as incentives for transfer success.

"I’m very concerned about graduation rates," Maloney said. "This is the second conference I’ve attended on the topic this fall. Working to improve Illinois college graduation rates is one of my legislative priorities this upcoming legislative session."

Following the summit, MHEC commissioners and guests gathered for the MHEC annual meeting, where they heard regional and national updates from the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) and the Council of State Governments.

Since its formation in 1991, MHEC has been committed to cost-savings programs, student access and policy research and analysis. The Compact has twelve member states and is headquartered in Minneapolis.