Bill Text: IL SR1647 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Recognizes that there are significant disparities in college degree completion rates for low-income and first generation college students and students of color at institutions across the State. Commits to closing statewide racial and socioeconomic degree attainment gaps and institutional achievement gaps and encourages institutions of higher education to implement and expand existing student success efforts that have evidence of improving educational outcomes for low-income and first generation college students and students of color. Urges the State's P20 Council is to update the State's 60 by 25 goal to include equity-focused targets aimed at closing institutional racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2018-05-31 - Resolution Adopted [SR1647 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2017-SR1647-Introduced.html
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1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, According to the Georgetown Center on Education | ||||||
3 | and the Workforce, two-thirds
of all jobs created this decade | ||||||
4 | will require some form of postsecondary education; in
Illinois, | ||||||
5 | 80% of employers say they need employees with postsecondary | ||||||
6 | training; and
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7 | WHEREAS, In response to current and projected workforce | ||||||
8 | demands for Illinois, the State has
set a target goal of | ||||||
9 | increasing the number of adults holding a college degree or | ||||||
10 | credential to 60% by 2025; and
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11 | WHEREAS, According to the Lumina Foundation, while 51% of | ||||||
12 | adults in Illinois hold
college credentials, significant gaps | ||||||
13 | in attainment exist between Black and Latino adults and
White | ||||||
14 | adults; in Illinois, only 30.7% of Black and 20.4% of Latino | ||||||
15 | adults hold college credentials,
compared to 50.3% of White | ||||||
16 | adults; and
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17 | WHEREAS, There are persistent, and in some cases | ||||||
18 | increasing, racial and socioeconomic
gaps in completion in most | ||||||
19 | of our two and four-year public and private institutions; and
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20 | WHEREAS, Only 37% of low-income students in Illinois | ||||||
21 | complete college in six years
compared to 75% of their wealthy |
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1 | peers, and only 33.7% of Black students and 49.3% of Latino
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2 | students who start at a four-year institution earn a bachelor's | ||||||
3 | degree in six years, compared to
66.4% of White students; and
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4 | WHEREAS, Despite wide gaps in attainment and college | ||||||
5 | completion along racial and
socioeconomic lines, and the | ||||||
6 | Illinois Board of Higher Education's (IBHE) recommendation in | ||||||
7 | the
Public Agenda for College and Career Success to eliminate | ||||||
8 | all achievement gaps along the P-20
education pipeline, | ||||||
9 | Illinois has not set clear targets for eliminating college | ||||||
10 | achievement gaps; and
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11 | WHEREAS, During the last decade, the percentage of | ||||||
12 | low-income and Black and Latino
students in Illinois has | ||||||
13 | increased; it is projected that by 2032, 45% of high school
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14 | graduates in Illinois will identify as a student of color; and
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15 | WHEREAS, In order to meet its 2025 target, Illinois will | ||||||
16 | have to accelerate progress at
all critical benchmarks, | ||||||
17 | including increasing degree completion rates for low-income, | ||||||
18 | first
generation, African-American and Latino students, and | ||||||
19 | adult learners; and
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20 | WHEREAS, There is a growing body of evidence on what works | ||||||
21 | to improve college
graduation rates for low-income and first | ||||||
22 | generation students and students of color, and there are many
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1 | promising programs and initiatives across our campuses, but not | ||||||
2 | currently at the frequency or
scale required to affect | ||||||
3 | significant change; and
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4 | WHEREAS, To meet its current and projected workforce | ||||||
5 | demands and truly realize the
goal of equal opportunity, | ||||||
6 | Illinois must implement and scale new and existing | ||||||
7 | evidence-based best practices and policies that improve | ||||||
8 | outcomes for low-income and first generation
students, adult | ||||||
9 | learners, and African-American and Latino students from Pre-K | ||||||
10 | through
postsecondary education; therefore, be it
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11 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL | ||||||
12 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize there are | ||||||
13 | significant disparities in college degree completion rates for | ||||||
14 | low-income and first generation college students and students | ||||||
15 | of color at institutions across the State; and be it further
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16 | RESOLVED, That we are committed to closing statewide racial | ||||||
17 | and socioeconomic degree
attainment gaps and institutional | ||||||
18 | achievement gaps and will help support and encourage
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19 | institutions of higher education to implement and expand | ||||||
20 | existing student success efforts that
have evidence of | ||||||
21 | improving educational outcomes for low-income and first | ||||||
22 | generation college
students and students of color; and be it | ||||||
23 | further
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1 | RESOLVED, That the State's P20 Council is urged to update | ||||||
2 | the State's 60 by 25 goal to
include equity-focused targets | ||||||
3 | aimed at closing institutional racial and socioeconomic
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4 | achievement gaps.
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