Opportunity Grant Program Overview

State Opportunity Grants are a major element of the Making Opportunity Affordable initiative. The state grant program has two phases. In Phase I, thirty-seven states applied to participate in a planning year and eleven states were selected for the program. Each of these Opportunity Grant states received $150,000 to participate in the Learning Year; a year to develop and plan a policy agenda that promotes increased productivity within the state's higher education system. In Phase II, the eleven states will be eligible to apply for a four-year Opportunity Grant for implementation of their policy agenda and dissemination of their process and outcomes.

Expectations
States receiving grants will use the money to pursue change in three areas:

1) Increase and Reward Completion. States should begin setting aside significant portions of their higher education budgets to reward institutions for students who complete courses and graduate in greater numbers at lower per-unit expense. States also should pay colleges and universities more for serving students who will comprise a growing share of the American labor force, including students of color, first-generation students, students from low-income families and working or unemployed adults.

2) Generate and Reinvest Savings. Spread widely, efficient and cost-effective academic and administrative approaches can free resources for serving many more undergraduates. Fewer wasted credits, better use of tuition policy, campus space, fewer building projects, and outsourcing operations - all of this and more is needed to make the best use of available dollars.

3) Educate and Train in Affordable Ways. Higher education is a prime candidate for innovation, such as entirely new ways of cost-effectively delivering degree programs. High-quality education could be delivered through in a variety of ways using a variety of channels that would free resources to offer non-traditional students new opportunities. Whether public or private, nonprofit or for-profit, two-or four-year, higher education institutions must become more nimble, efficient and responsive to the needs of students and American society.

States’ agendas will vary based upon differing workforce demands, leadership dynamics and policy environments, but participating states are expected to focus on these three areas. States must ground their agendas in ambitious-but-realistic goals and concrete measures that link spending with increasing degree attainment.

Process
The grant program has four phases:

1. National Academy (June 2008). Based on letters of interest and follow-up interviews, the initiative invited 11 states* to send seven-member teams to an intensive, two-day academy at the Hunt Institute in Chapel Hill, N.C. The academy:
   • Introduced participating states to the Opportunity Grant Program and outlined the learning process;
   • Provided a forum to talk over the elements of a productivity agenda; and,
   • Encouraged discussion within and among state teams that helped clarify potential changes in policy and practice.
   The state teams left with a framework for integrating their state reforms with the Making Opportunity Affordable agenda and with an outline for moving forward with their learning-year grant proposal
2. Learning-Year Grant Preparation (June 2008-October 2008). Following the National Academy, states were invited to submit proposals for one-year learning grants of $150,000. The proposals, submitted to Jobs for the Future on Sept. 5, outlined how states intended to draft productivity agenda. In late September, JFF convened a panel of experts to review learning-grant proposals.
3. Learning Year (October 2008-September 2009). During the Learning Year, participating states will:
   • Build a team comprising stakeholders such as policymakers, higher-education leaders and business and community leaders;
   • Refine their proposals to focus on promising ideas that could serve as proof points for productivity;
   • Conduct policy reviews to identify opportunities and obstacles; and,
   • Develop action plans that include goals and metrics, priorities for changing policies and practices and strategies for building coalitions for change and building the case for immediate change.
   The initiative has assigned an adviser to each state for the Learning Year. Advisers will help states plan work, provide guidance on policy audits, identify experts who can help assess policy options and facilitate discussion. JFF and team advisers will track and assess states’ progress. Near the end of the Learning Year (September 2009), experts will convene to consider questions such as:
   • Has the state assembled a leadership team capable of leveraging policy change and sustaining a focus on higher-education productivity?
   • Has the state devised clear and compelling goals and measures? How much evidence of buy-in exists?
   • Has the state completed a policy audit, and if so, how well did the review assess policy and regulatory opportunities and barriers related to the initiative’s core strategies?
   • Has the state identified priorities for changing policy? Which cost measures will be used to justify the priorities as means of graduating many more students within expected resources?
   • Has the state developed a plan for engaging and educating stakeholders to build support for its proposed efforts?
   The experts will offer recommendations to the initiative regarding each state’s commitment and readiness to implement its action plan
4. Implementation (November 2009-October 2013). Up to five states, from the original eleven, will be selected by the initiative to receive Opportunity Grants and technical assistance worth up to $500,000 per year for four years, with annual renewal contingent upon meeting negotiated progress benchmarks. States that do not receive grants will be invited to continue their involvement with the initiative, such as by participating in cross-state learning opportunities.

For further information, please contact:
Nancy Hoffman, Vice President Jobs for the Future
88 Broad Street Boston, MA 02110
617.728.4446
nhoffman@jff.org