Bellevue College President Dr. David Rule joined President Barack Obama, the First Lady and Vice President Joe Biden along with hundreds of college presidents on Thursday as part of an announcement of new actions to help more students prepare for and graduate from college.
Rule and other higher education leaders were invited to Washington, D.C., as part of the second White House College Opportunity Day of Action in support of the president’s commitment to partner with colleges and universities, business leaders and nonprofits to support students across the country.
As part of the event, Bellevue College stated its commitment to create more opportunities for students to engage in Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) education and pursue careers in related fields, according to Rule.
According to a recent study, only nine percent of those born in the lowest family income tax bracket attain a bachelor’s degree by age 25, compared to the 54 percent of those in the top tax bracket who complete their degree by that time.
Through the creation of the college’s RISE (Research, Innovation, Service and Experiential Learning) Institute, a 70,000-square-foot health, sciences building, Rule said the campus will be able to add three bachelor degree programs, six associate degree programs, and numerous other certificates.
“STEM education is vital to our future, the future of our country, the future of our region and the future of our children,” Rule said. “The U.S. Labor Department predicts the 10 fastest growing occupations from 2008-2018 to be STEM-related and with median salaries that will help fuel our economy.”
Rule said the college has already taken those trends to heart, adding the staff is “actively working to meet these current and future needs.”
He and other higher education leaders were asked to commit to new action in at least one of four areas including: building networks of colleges focused on promoting completion; creating K-16 partnerships focused on college readiness; investing in high school counselors as part of the First Lady’s Reach Higher initiative and increasing the number of college graduates in STEM fields.
President Obama announced his administration’s next steps on how they’ll be helping support these actions, along with at least $10 million in funding to help promote college completion and a $30 million AmeriCorps program to improve low-income student’s access to college.
On Thursday morning, the president and staff were expected to present a progress report on the commitments made last year during the first day of action.
