Higher education has slipped as a national priority even though it is key to both the country’s economic recovery and its standing as a world leader, four former governors said yesterday, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

“I think that higher education is at risk, and that message is not being communicated clearly and sufficiently enough,” former Virginia Gov. Gerald L. Baliles told a coalition of business and education leaders at a daylong conference at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.

Baliles was joined by former Virginia Gov. George Allen and former Govs. Robert L. Ehrlich of Maryland and Michael F. Easley of North Carolina in a panel discussion sponsored by the Virginia Business Higher Education Council. READ FULL STORY