The Vision 2020 Plan, approved by the Regents this past spring, and discussed below, outlines ambitious, yet important targets to move Arizona’s higher education system forward in order to realize greater state economic success in the year 2020. This chart shows where Arizona is now on several indicators, and where it could be in about 11 years, should the targets of the Vision 2020 plan be met.

The more education a person attains, the higher that person’s lifetime earnings. The financial impact over a person’s working life is significant, as this chart shows. Someone with a bachelor’s degree can expect to earn, on average, over $1 million more than someone with only a high school education.

Strategic Initiatives

A Vision for 2020

Two years ago, the Arizona Board of Regents and the state’s three public universities—Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and The University of Arizona—began work on the Vision 2020 Plan for the state’s public university system, which sets a path toward doubling baccalaureate degree production by the year 2020. The plan is built around four key themes: educational excellence, research excellence, community engagement and workforce impact, and productivity.

The plan builds on a foundation of previous strategic planning efforts of the universities and the Board, including the establishment of a medical college in Phoenix, development of new health professions programs not offered by public institutions in the state, growth in the research enterprise, and increasingly intensive efforts to provide baccalaureate access to all regions of the state. To see a copy of the Vision 2020 plan, click this link: http://www.azregents.edu/1_the_regents/reports_factbook/planning/ABOR_2020.pdf

Realizing our Vision 2020—Improving productivity through system architecture reform

One of the key themes of the Vision 2020 Plan is productivity. The universities’ presidents presented a plan to the Regents at their June board meeting that seeks to reform the system architecture in order achieve greater degree production and to provide lower-cost options to students.

“Pathways: Access-driven Architecture for the Arizona University System” is a collaborative model of deeply integrated community college-based 2+2 branch campuses, regional universities, new baccalaureate campuses, collaborative Arizona public “university centers,” and the expansion of the Arizona Universities Network (AZUN) slate of online degrees.

Board President Ernest Calderόn specifically has proposed pursuing a 3+1 program that would keep students pursuing high-demand degrees at the community colleges a year longer, paying community college tuition and, thereby, significantly reducing their costs. In the fourth year, students would transfer to the university, pay university tuition and earn, in the end, a university degree. To read moreabout this, please click this link: http://www.azregents.edu/1_the_regents/meetings/board_book/2009-06-Jun/Item-01-2009-06.pdf to access a copy of the proposals.