Education
Snags in Higher Education
Where to go after high school can be a real problem for Pacific students.
Even if a young person can get quality elementary and secondary education in the Islands, finding a good college or university is sometimes difficult. The University of the South Pacific, whose main campus is located in Fiji, is perhaps the biggest Pacific success story in this regard. Several generations of Pacific professionals and politicians have already graduated from USP. But, among the former and current U.S.-connected territories, only the Marshall Islands is included under the USP letterhead.
Former Marshall’s secretary of education Hilda Heine, who now works as a senior scholar for Pacific Resources in Education and Learning in Honolulu, says that a few students from other parts of Micronesia attend USP, but most rely on the two- or four-year institutions nearest them. “There are some scholarships from Australia and New Zealand that are available for students to go to USP,” Heine says. “but most stay within the American system.”
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Staying within the U.S. higher education system has advantages, like eligibility for federal PEL grants and other kinds of financial assistance.
There are two-year institutions in American Samoa, Palau, the Mar-shalls, Guam and Saipan. Guam also has a four-year institution, the University of Guam. Saipan’s Northern Marianas College is offering a bachelor’s program in education.
Some of the two-year institutions have better reputations than others. Usually, students must come to the west coast of the U.S. or to Hawaii to complete American-model, four-year degrees. That’s when some of the quality issues get tangled in the process called “articulation.” That is, island students don’t always get credit for the course work they’ve done at their home institutions.
Michael Rota, vice chancellor for the University of Hawaii’s community college system, explains. “We have articulation agreements with most of the two-year colleges, but, like our own community colleges, they have open admission policies, so there are wide variations in the abilities the students are bringing to these campuses.” Rota says the articulation issue is getting a bit better, “but there are still clear differences between colleges in their ability to deliver curricula.”
