SCHEV releases updated goals for higher ed in Va.

The Plan focuses on equity, affordability and transformation

Published February 16, 2021 by Sydney Lake

The State Council of Higher Education (SCHEV) on Tuesday released an updated statewide strategic plan, which focuses on making higher education more “equitable, affordable and transformative.”

The Pathways to Opportunity: The Virginia Plan for Higher Education (The Plan) is reviewed every six years.

“The events of 2020 — COVID-19, social justice reforms and concerns about a civil society — reinforce the need for this plan,” SCHEV Director Peter Blake said in a statement. “Now more than ever, the commonwealth should aspire to a system of higher education that is equitable, affordable and transformative.”

The goals of the updated plan include removing barriers to access for Black, Hispanic, Native American and rural students; developing cost saving initiatives for students; and increasing social, cultural and economic well-being.

The next step of the process in updating The Plan is developing action plans. A timeline has not been released, but the major goal of the plan is to have 70% educational attainment by 2030.