Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The American Samoa Community College has recommended to the Fono to consider legislation that would regulate private institutions of higher learning opening up in American Samoa, as well as online college education programs.

The verbal recommendation was made by ASCC president, Dr. Rosevonne M. Pato during the college’s recent presentation of its FY 2020 budget before the Fono Joint Budget Committee.

RECOMMENDED LEGISLATION

Pato informed the Fono that the ASCC “needs assistance” on three issues. First, she pointed out that ASCC is the only public institute of higher education in the territory. However, there are private institutions that can come here, but there is no law that governs or regulates how they must set up locally, she said, and reminded lawmakers that current law provides mandates for ASCC to follow.

The private institutes don’t have such mandates, “because there is no legislation [or] at this time on the opening of private institutes of higher education here,” Pato said and asked the Fono to also look at “campus-based versus online” programs.

“Online education has been a big competition for ASCC and it continues, unless there’s some legislation that is put into place,” she said.

(Samoa News learned through online research as well as through comments from three US-based educators, that all states and the majority of the territories (except American Samoa) have their own specific laws governing both public and private institutions. For example, states have boards that oversee such matters.)

Another proposed legislation recommendation from Pato is for ASCC to be exempt from the excise tax, which is “also something that really puts us at a bind, having to pay excise tax” on things such as books.

Sen. Magalei Logovi’i, who co-chairs the joint budget committee, asked if the Board of Higher Education has thought about privatizing ASCC so it doesn’t have to rely on ASG for subsidy funding.

“If we are to become a private institution, we will fall under a different standard for accreditation,” she said, noting that, “it would most likely lessen the amount that students receive from financial aid.”

Currently, as a public institution, “we are allowed the full amount of financial aid. However, if we privatize, then we are saying that we can bring in more money through private means, which we are unable to do at this time,” Pato explained.

Responding to committee questions regarding online education, the ASCC president explained that in “every state and almost every territory, online is regulated by a board, which states that when they want to have or open programs … online, there is a fee that is paid and it is regulated to make sure that the public higher education is not in jeopardy of competing.”

However, in American Samoa, there’s “no regulatory board that regulates online education. So any college can provide online education.”

As to whether the college has looked at providing online education, Pato said “we would like to expand to online education; however it requires technical assistance and it would be an additional expense.” Additionally, “it is in our plan for 9 years now. However, without the back-up in funding it’s difficult to move forward.”

DEVELOP LOCAL CAPACITY

“We are hoping to develop local capacity to have stronger Career Technical Education,” she said, noting that ASCC has a four-year program in teacher education, “but we would also like to expand in nursing, the trades and vocational education, as well as Samoan cultural education.”

“And this will only be possible if our budget supports this expansion,” she added.

FUTURE VISION

Pato shared with lawmakers ASCC’s vision:

•     Provide distance learning (for example covering isolated villages - Aunu’u and Manu’a); and,

•     To expand opportunities for training, education, and skill-building to open at ASCC and to become a Pacific Center for Education.

“We are strategically located in the South Pacific and it’s an ideal place for training, certification, and as a testing center. So we would like to expand to become the Pacific Center for Education,” she explained.

ROTC PROGRAM

Rep. Faimealelei Anthony Allen pointed out that the ROTC Program budget for ASCC is “zero” and questioned whether this important and valuable program is still active at the College.

Pato said the “reason why it’s zeroed out, is they fund their own faculty and supplies. So we have to be very thankful that they cover everything. They do not pay us any rental or anything, they’re fully funded.”