A Compact for Postsecondary Education

This paper focuses on how states can better align postsecondary education with their economic needs, which will position them to compete in the global economy by producing a highly-skilled workforce and by unleashing postsecondary education institutionsâ power to innovate. A truly innovative postsecondary system must do the following: 1. Foster among its graduates the critical skills and capabilities needed to enhance state economic competitiveness. 2. Produce a well-qualified Kâ12 teacher corps that is highly skilled in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines. 3. Create new knowledge by investing in research and development(R&D) and by establishing policies that facilitate the translation of new ideas into innovative products, processes, and services. The report also introduces a new vehicle for aligning postsecondary education to state economiesâthe postsecondary education compact. Through the compact, state governments, the postsecondary education system, the Boards of Regents, and the private sector collaboratively embrace a public agenda to ensure that postsecondary education policies, programs, curricula, and resources address current, emerging, and future economic realities