Arkansas colleges united on workforce goals

The gathering was hosted by the Northwest Arkansas Council, as part of UCA's Northwest Arkansas Blitz, an awareness campaign running through Thursday.

Catch up quick: Amid good-natured, semi-competitive ribbing, the three fielded questions from Roby Brock, editor-in-chief and host of Talk Business & Politics.

• They discussed the new Arkansas ACCESS law, tuition costs and meeting the future needs of the workforce.

What they're saying:

On tuition — "A student with an NWACC certificate or degree will get 20% return on their investment every year for the rest of their life," Rittle said.

• It's the job of NWACC administrators to show students the college values their scarce resources and delivers a value greater than their time and money spent, he said.
• Robinson said controlling tuition costs comes down to efficient use of resources by the school and raising tuition isn't an easy decision.

On Arkansas ACCESS — A lot of the act is about the connections between K -12 and post secondary education, which will help UCA do more outreach with feeder schools, Davis said.

• The legislation also highlights the potential for non-degree studies like UCA's aviation academy and cyber security certificates, he said.

On the law's forbidding indoctrination, and diversity, equity and inclusion: "I didn't see the challenge in ACCESS, because academic freedom was not injured … the act doesn't prevent us from teaching what we need to teach," Robinson said.

The bottom line: "The idea is serving the state of Arkansas, and we serve the state of Arkansas better when we work together," he said.

Go deeper: NWACC's master plan includes housing, classrooms and sports facilities