December 9, 2013
The Oklahoman
By Kathryn McNutt

Oklahoma's Complete College America program is gaining national attention from both education and business leaders.

The state will be recognized Dec. 11 at the White House for its remediation education efforts and was praised by Business Roundtable — an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies — for its performance funding model in a letter dated Nov. 26.

Members of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education heard about the accolades Wednesday during their meeting in Oklahoma City.

“Performance funding is our strongest area (of Complete College America),” said Tony Hutchison, vice chancellor for workforce and economic development for the regents.

Established in 2009, Complete College America is a national nonprofit that works with 34 participating states to significantly increase the number of Americans with quality career certificates or college degrees. Oklahoma came on board in 2011.

It is one of 10 states that have implemented performance funding, which ties dollars to progress and success rather than enrollment.

For the past two years, new appropriations have been allocated based on things like whether an institution is retaining first-year students and is increasing the number of degrees and certificates awarded, Hutchison said.

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