August 26, 2011
Media Contact: Norma Jean Revilla-Garcia

  HACU Town Hall to focus on "Re-Engineering Higher Education"

The Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities (HACU) will present a town hall on Monday, Oct. 31, 3:30-5 p.m., as part of its 25th Annual Conference taking place in San Antonio, Texas at the Grand Hyatt San Antonio, October 29-31. 

Town Hall panelists will address the future of higher education in a discussion surrounding "Re-Engineering Higher Education."

As the nation is called to respond to a national goal to make the U.S. number one in degree attainment, a demand exists to increase the proportion of American adults receiving degrees by the year 2020. Yet, the rising costs of education in recent years, coupled with the impact of the recession on families and on state budgets, have created a risk of a higher education "bubble" that may result in higher education’s pricing itself out of a middle-class market. Higher education must also be prepared to address changes in a diverse student population, and explore its role in the increasing need for remediation for entering college students and the lack of career readiness among graduates.

The Town Hall is free and open to the public. It will take place Mon., Oct. 31, 3:30 - 5 p.m. at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in Room 007 BCD – River Level. 

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Panelists:
Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D.
Chancellor
The University of Texas System
Member, President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics
Congressman Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX)
U.S. Representative 
15th District of Texas 
Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee 
  on Higher Education and Workforce Training

Elizabeth R. Gutierrez, Ph.D.
Director of State Policy
Lumina Foundation for Education
Moderator:    

Lena T. Rodriguez, Ph.D.
Chief Marketing and Development Officer
of the Urban Entrepreneur Partnership Inc.,
a program of the Kauffman Foundation