House Resolution 24 - Introduced HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 24 BY WINCKLER , ABDUL-SAMAD , LENSING , ISENHART , GAINES , WESSEL-KROESCHELL , GASKILL , M. SMITH , MASCHER , HUNTER , THEDE , T. TAYLOR , HEDDENS , KRESSIG , KAJTAZOVIC , HANSON , KEARNS , STECKMAN , WENTHE , PETERSEN , OLDSON , KELLEY , SWAIM , WITTNEBEN , WOLFE , MUHLBAUER , and BERRY A Resolution to urge the Governor to accept the 1 invitation to join the Alliance of States for 2 Complete College America. 3 WHEREAS, by the end of this decade more than 60 4 percent of jobs will require college education, and 5 today only 46 percent of Iowa’s adults aged 25-34 have 6 a college degree; and 7 WHEREAS, too many students get lost along the way 8 to attaining an undergraduate degree, hindering Iowa’s 9 economic growth; and 10 WHEREAS, the graduation rates for Iowa’s community 11 colleges vary widely by institution, with rates between 12 19 percent and 61 percent of the students attending 13 Iowa’s community colleges completing certificate 14 programs or associate degrees within 150 percent of 15 normal program time; and 16 WHEREAS, 65 percent of white undergraduate students 17 at Iowa’s public universities graduate in six years, 18 but only 35 percent of African-American students and 50 19 percent of Hispanic students graduate in six years; and 20 WHEREAS, Iowa must raise completion rates overall 21 and place extra focus on closing the college attainment 22 gap for underrepresented students; and 23 -1- LSB 2504HH (4) 84 kh/nh 1/ 2

H.R. 24 WHEREAS, Complete College America was established 1 in 2009 as a national nonprofit organization working 2 to significantly increase the number of Americans with 3 a college degree or credential of value and to close 4 attainment gaps for traditionally underrepresented 5 populations; and 6 WHEREAS, Complete College America was founded to 7 focus solely on dramatically increasing the nation’s 8 college completion rate through state policy change, 9 and to build consensus for change among state leaders, 10 higher education, and the national education policy 11 community; and 12 WHEREAS, governors from 24 other states have 13 accepted the invitation to join the Alliance of 14 States for Complete College America by pledging to 15 make college completion a top priority, and to set 16 completion goals, develop action plans, move key policy 17 levers, and to collect and report common measures of 18 progress; NOW THEREFORE, 19 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, That 20 the Governor is urged to accept the invitation to join 21 the Alliance of States for Complete College America and 22 to develop and deploy innovative, statewide strategies 23 designed to substantially increase college completion. 24 -2- LSB 2504HH (4) 84 kh/nh 2/ 2