April 3, 2012

College Attainment Rising, But Not Enough

 The Lumina Foundation set an ambitious goal to increase the percent of Americans with a two or four year degree from 37.9 percent to 60 percent by 2025. This goal has been picked up and echoed by many, including President Obama. In its latest status report, A Stronger Nation Through Higher Education, the foundation finds that degree attainment is increasing, but not quickly enough to reach the 2025 goal. The percentage of American working-age adults with college degrees has increased to 38.3 percent in 2010 from 37.9 percent in 2008.

The report emphasizes that faster degree attainment growth is necessary to ensure the US has enough qualified workers to meet the needs of the rapidly changing economy, which they estimate will require 60 percent of workers to have some form of higher education.  According to the report, attainment could be increased by increasing high school graduation rates and boosting degree attainment for minorities and adults with some college but no degree.

The report also includes a state-by-state breakdown of attainment rates. Seattle has the fifth-highest degree attainment rates of metropolitan areas in the US, with 48 percent of working-age adults holding college degrees. A higher-than-average percentage of Washington residents hold college degrees—42.5 percent versus 38.3 percent nationally in 2010. Twenty-five percent of Washington residents have some college credit but no degree, which the report claims could be a good avenue for increasing degree attainment. However, differences between population groups remain: Asian and White degree attainment is at 54.5 percent and 44.8 percent, respectively, but less than 30 percent of Black, Latino and Native American, working-age Washingtonians hold college degrees. While attainment in Washington State is growing, the report finds faster growth is needed to add 471,000 degrees by 2025.

To read more, check out the full report here.