Claremont
Van Ostern, 37, of Concord, spoke with several college officials during a 45-minute roundtable discussion that focused on post-secondary educational programs, efforts to partner with employers seeking skilled workers and helping people find programs of study that lead to jobs without incurring substantial debt.
Van Ostern, a member of the state Executive Council, said improving access to higher education is the foundation for building a strong and skilled workforce.
“One of the most important things we need to tackle is how we strengthen our workforce, and I believe that will be the single most critical strategic goal for us as we figure out how to grow our economy,” Van Ostern said to begin the discussion. “Higher education is the best economic driver in the state.”
He said the face of higher education today is not the 20-year-old pursuing a bachelor’s degree while not quite sure of his or her career plans, and the state needs to recognize and react to that change.
“Focusing on career technical education in high school, dual credit programs, associate degrees and certificate programs and adults working part-time often with families, these are all critical to what I think is important for our next governor to tackle, which is how we cut costs and cut student debt,” he said.
Van Ostern said New Hampshire loses a higher percentage of high school students to other states than all but one other state after graduation and he blamed that on the high cost of post-secondary education. He wants to see efforts focused on keeping young people, young families, new businesses and startups in New Hampshire.
His rival for the open governor’s seat, Republican Executive Councilor Chris Sununu, has called for a student loan assistance program that would aim to reduce student debt for high-demand jobs such as nursing, teaching and recovery clinicians.
Van Ostern related his college experience of holding down two part-time jobs and incurring debt his senior year while earning a four-year degree in the 1990s. He went on to work for Stonyfield Yogurt and Southern New Hampshire University, where he helped develop a program that partnered with area employers.
“I know the importance of a strong workforce and one of the biggest barriers to growth is having the right people to help the company grow,” Van Ostern said.
He spoke about companies that pay some or all of the college cost for their employees, which he said is as valuable to the company as it is to the student.
“The state needs to do more to make those connections (with employers),” Van Ostern said. “It is easy to justify more funding from the state when you know it will result in more graduates in the area employers want to hire.”
Several of the participants, including City Councilor Allen Damren, who is on the college’s board of trustees, said he would like to see more coordination of high school technical centers across the state and an increased emphasis on those programs. Students in many high schools can obtain college credits through programs such as Running Start and STEAM Ahead, which can lower their college costs.
Van Ostern agreed that career technical education deserves support.
“If we did a better job of strengthening our career technical education, the path forward for a community college to a four-year college for those students who want it, that might be a good way to get more students enrolled in the first place and a good way to bring down costs,” he said.
Van Ostern said New Hampshire is ranked last in the country in funding higher education and as governor, he would work to change that, but added that his plan is not just about more money. Increasing support of the university system and career technical education needs to come with a prescription for lowering student debt and graduating students ready for good paying jobs in the state, Van Ostern said.
“One of the reasons it is important for me to talk about both more support for higher education and also additional accountability, less debt and more graduates in the workforce is because taxpayers deserve to know that if we are going to make new investments that they are getting something in return,” Van Ostern said. “It doesn’t mean just take more money but we also need accountability measures. We have to make sure it comes with targets that student debt levels are going to fall.”
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
