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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. James Roebuck |
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Committee approves Roebuck's proposed changes
to Master Plan for Higher Education
HARRISBURG, Feb. 4 – State Rep. James Roebuck, D-Phila., Education Committee chairman, said the committee this week approved his proposal to amend the state's Master Plan for Higher Education to make sure the state is adequately preparing students for current and future workforce needs.
Every five years, the State Board of Education is required by law to update the Master Plan in order to provide the General Assembly and governor's administration with current details on the state's higher education system.
Roebuck said the legislature originally implemented the Master Plan to help build the state's system of colleges, universities and technical training centers in the 1950s. However, now that Pennsylvania's higher education system has been fully established, Roebuck said the Master Plan needs to be updated to make sure it provides a strategic assessment of the system's ability to educate students and meet current and future workforce needs.
"This legislation would amend the Master Plan for Higher Education to make sure that we are assessing several issues to ensure our colleges and universities function correctly for today's economy, such as accessibility, affordability and making sure that we are creating the kind of workforce that will underwrite the future needs of the Commonwealth," Roebuck said.
Roebuck's proposal (H.B. 114) would require the State Board of Education to identify unmet needs in career preparation, emerging issues in higher education and strategies to address them, and local collaboration opportunities for workforce development programs and economic development under the Master Plan every five years.
The bill now awaits consideration by the full House.
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