Hartford Business Journal

6 Hartford Business Journal • January 7, 2019 • www.HartfordBusiness.com By Sean Teehan steehan@hartfordbusiness.com I ntroducing new programs at college campuses in Connecti- cut has become a major com- petitive issue. As schools battle for what's ex- pected to be a shrinking student popu- lation, the need to develop new degree programs that adapt to a rapidly changing job market is paramount. That pressure has forced a legisla- tive battle in recent years by the state's private, nonprofit colleges, which say they have been put at a competitive disadvantage by a regulatory approval process that doesn't apply to their pub- lic university counterparts, or to online or private schools in nearby states. Specifically, many Connecticut pri- vate schools have historically been re- quired to get new programs approved by the state Office of Higher Educa- tion (OHE), which administrators say can add upwards of six months to an already prolonged process. Temporary measures passed in the state legislature have given some pri- vate schools a limited exemption from the law, but the industry is pushing for a long-term fix that puts them on an equal playing field. "Many of our state-based competi- tors don't have to do this, which has never made sense to me," said H. Fred- erick Sweitzer, provost at the Univer- sity of Hartford. Prior to 2013, the state required OHE program approval for every col- lege, public and private. But lawmak- ers that year passed a law that did two things: streamline the approval pro- cess so that it takes only 45 days, and remove public colleges from OHE's program-approval purview. Two years later, the legislature approved a bill that would have also exempted private schools from the added oversight, but it was vetoed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy who cited dis- comfort in relaxing the regulations. "Parents and students should be as- sured that the programs offered meet Connecticut's rigorous standards for academic quality," Malloy wrote in a June 2015 veto statement. Since then, private colleges have successfully lobbied for a temporary exemption that caps at 12 the num- ber of new programs the schools can introduce without state approval. The two-year exemption, which has already been extended once, expires in 2020, and the industry is looking for a permanent fix. The exemption covers private, non- profit colleges that are based in Con- necticut, have operated in the state for at least 10 years, and are eligible to accept federal financial aid, among other requirements. Four private schools — Yale Uni- versity, Wesleyan University, Trinity College and Connecticut College — are permanently exempt from the OHE ap- proval process because their charters predate OHE oversight, officials said. Jennifer Widness, president of the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges, said the issue isn't necessarily an emergency for private schools, but with in-demand skills changing rapidly as new technologies emerge — like arti- ficial intelligence, blockchain, etc. — it's something legislators should take into consideration. "All of these different skill sets that are needed … , they didn't even exist five years ago," Widness said. "And so, schools need to adjust accordingly, and their programs need to reflect that." Noble intention Sean Seepersad, OHE's associate director, said he hasn't received any complaints from colleges about the 12-program cap. Further, the approval process prevents colleges from offer- ing expensive programs of question- able quality, he said. "Like any other state regulatory agency, our process here is to ensure students get the best educational op- portunities that they can," Seepersad said. "We have regulations in place that institutions are supposed to meet, and our goal is consumer protection." That's a noble intention, said Chris Bruhl, president and chief executive of the Business Council of Fairfield County, but the problem lies in the execution. Schools bound to the state's regulato- ry process are by and large well-estab- lished institutions that have rigorous internal approval processes, and are already accountable to regional ac- creditors like the New England Associ- CT's private colleges These private colleges in Connecticut have traditionally had to get state approval to add new programs, a regulatory burden the industry has been trying to eliminate. Albertus Magnus College, New Haven Fairfield University Goodwin College, East Hartford Hartford Seminary Holy Apostles College & Seminary, Cromwell Mitchell College, New London Quinnipiac University, Hamden Sacred Heart University, Fairfield University of Bridgeport University of Hartford, West Hartford University of New Haven University of St. Joseph, West Hartford Competitive Edge CT private colleges want parity in state's degree program approval process University of Hartford Provost H. Frederick Sweitzer says delays in the state approval process held up at least one new program the school introduced. HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER

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