Academic challenge: Does Richmond make the cut?

Richmond lacks many core course requirements, according to the American Council of Trustees and Alumni's report on cost and quality issues at Virginia colleges.

Michael Poliakoff, vice president of policy at ACTA; Lauri Kempson, vice president of operations; and Armand Alacbay, program officer, compiled the report titled, "The Diffusion of Light and Education." It took three months to put the report together after months of planning, Poliakoff said.

The report opens with an analysis of general education requirements that should be offered by a university: composition, literature, language, government/history, economics, math and science. No college requires all seven, and Richmond only requires three: language, math and science, according to the report.

Richmond failed to meet the requirements in other areas because students can take different courses to fulfill requirements, rather than strictly these seven. For example, instead of requiring economics, Richmond has the social analysis requirement, which can be fulfilled by economics, sociology or anthropology, Poliakoff said. Also, film studies courses offered at Richmond can fulfill the literature requirement, as required by the ACTA, instead of a solely literary course, he said.

"The difference is between a requirement and a distributional choice," Poliakoff said.

Poliakoff focused only on the Virginia colleges offering liberal arts educations when he made this report, he said. The report looked at 15 public and 24 private universities, Poliakoff said.

"The chief purpose of this report is to make key metrics available in a clear and accessible way for all stakeholders involved in higher education," he said. "We are committed to the idea that higher education is a crucial issue for our nation as a whole."

Steve Allred, provost and vice president for academic affairs, had no comment on the report, he said.

Kathleen Skerrett, dean of arts and sciences, was unavailable to comment on the report.

The Beazley Foundation, dedicated to funding educational, charitable and religious activities, temporarily suspended funding to 13 colleges after reviewing the report, Poliakoff said.

Richard Bray, president of the Beazley Foundation, said that half of all money raised benefits pre-K through higher education. The Beazley Foundation funds 13 colleges and universities. Richmond is excluded because of its rich endowment, he said.

Bray and committee members are reviewing the report and are planning to meet with presidents of the 13 colleges to identify who is meeting curriculum and graduation standards, he said. "We need to address this to make sure we are not just writing blank checks," Bray said.

The Beazley Foundation wants to strengthen higher education, he said. "The most important area to us is core curriculum, and in order to properly educate a young person, it is necessary to have substantive courses in each of the seven fundamental areas," Bray said.

Bray will require data and other proof of strengthened performance from colleges before re-instituting funding, he said.

The report also shows tuition rates in 2004 versus 2011. According to Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System, Richmond's tuition increased by $11,000 or 35.9 percent during that time. Of the 24 private universities, Richmond's tuition costs are the highest, with Washington and Lee in a close second, according to the data system.

Tuition rates were put into the context of median household incomes. Educational costs at Richmond accounted for more than 68 percent of Virginia inflation-adjusted median household incomes, according to the report.

Data about each school is provided by the U.S. Dept. of Education's IPEDS.

Contact reporter Laila Hart at laila.hart@richmond.edu