Goal 2025: For 60 of Americans to Hold College Degrees or Credentials

Part I of a II-Part Series on Texas Higher Education By Jamie Merisotis Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas Here in Texas experts say that by 2018 the state will need to fill about 4 million job vacancies as a result of new job growth worker retirements and other factors. Of these expected vacancies well over half about 2.2 million jobs will require college credentials. Clearly that is a huge gap to fill and failing to do so will result in massive amounts of unrealized human potential perhaps hundreds of thousands of Texas jobs that go uncreated or unfilled.   Im pleased to be able to visit with you always enjoy visiting Austin and appreciate the fact that the Austin Economic Club affords us a wonderful opportunity to talk about a topic we all care about ― and in a familiar environment for me. As the current president of the Economic Club of Indiana I know first-hand that the men and women who are drawn to these groups if properly organized and motivated can be a tremendous force for good in their communities a real catalyst for positive change. And make no mistake: positive change is what Im here to talk about today … substantive change in college success rates ― and your role in helping make that change happen here in Texas. The Lumina Foundations one overriding aim for the last five years what we call Goal 2025 has put us in a unique leadership role nationally. Again let me state that goal unambiguously: By the year 2025 we want 60 percent of Americans to hold high-quality college degrees certificates or other credentials. And let me make another point quite unequivocally:

The push for a national college-attainment rate of 60 isnt just a good cause … and its not just Luminas cause. Ongoing research from many noted economists labor experts and thought leaders shows that the Goal 2025 effort is an imperative … it is necessary to meet an urgent national need.

The Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce points out that in 1973 only 28 percent of all U.S. jobs required postsecondary training. By 2010 that number had increased to 60 percent and labor economists predict that two-thirds of all of the nations jobs will require some form of postsecondary education by the end of the decade. Youve certainly felt the effects of that trend here in Texas. As business and civic leaders as employers you know better than anyone how challenging it is to attract and retain the skilled workers who are so key to success in the 21^st century global economy. You feel the relentless pressure of worldwide competition and by and large you recognize the crucial link between educational success and economic prosperity. Many also understand that education is the best form of insurance against job loss … and the recent economic downturn has provided quantifiable evidence of that truth. We know now that Americans with a high school diploma or less accounted for four out every five jobs lost in the recent recession and those low-skill jobs are continuing to disappear even during the recovery period.

Meanwhile workers with bachelors degrees have continued to gain jobs even during the worst of the slowdown. Of the 4 million expected job vacancies in Texas by 2018 2.2 million will require post-secondary credentials.

Clearly then it is vital to increase college attainment and by college" Im referring to all forms of post-high school education not just four-year degrees. Many people in Texas are working hard to address the urgent need to produce more college graduates. In fact from our perspective at Lumina this state is ahead of the curve in many respects and has long been a strong partner in the Goal 2025 effort. Id like to offer some ideas about how leaders such as yourselves might add value to this critically important work. And Id also like to spend a few minutes talking about some of the very interesting work going on in Texas. You may not be familiar with some of whats happening here and I think its important to recognize what already has been accomplished as we consider what more needs to be done. I should begin by saying that Lumina Foundation has been a proud supporter of college-attainment efforts in Texas for many years beginning in 2004 with Achieving the Dream a nationwide initiative to improve success among students at community colleges. More than 30 Texas institutions have participated in AtD over the years including Austin Community College a participating school since 2009. Texas also has been a focal point for the college productivity work that Lumina has supported for several years. By productivity I want to be clear that we mean increasing the capacity of the system to serve a lot more students at the lowest possible cost while ensuring that underrepresented populations get top attention. In fact this is one of just seven states that have formally joined a national college productivity network and committed themselves to affordably graduating more students with available resources. Texas has been at the forefront of efforts to improve both efficiency and effectiveness with leadership from Bill Powers at UT-Austin Raymund Paredes of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board UT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa Governor Perry Lt. Governor Dewhurst and others. Efforts to control college costs have been advanced through initiatives like the $10000 bachelors degrees in leadership that South Texas College and Texas A&M-Commerce will be offering. And meaningful incentives designed to boost educational attainment have been developed such as the Texas B-on-time no-interest loan program.

But make no mistake about it theres still work to be done. The average Texas graduate takes 5.3 years to earn a bachelors degree and earns 27 credit hours beyond whats required. Of 2011 bachelors graduates 58 had accumulated more than 135 credits and nearly one-third had achieved more than 150 credits. This excess credit accumulation costs Texas millions of dollars each year not to mention the cost to students in tuition living expenses and time away from work.

Part of the solution to affordably serving more students will be rethinking academic delivery. UT and others are investigating the potential of Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and other forms of scalable low-cost high quality delivery of academic content. The Texas Higher Education Leadership Consortium made up of institutions and systems such as UT-Austin Texas State Texas A&M and El Paso Community College has been pioneering the design and use of interactive courseware that can dramatically lower costs while delivering better outcomes even to underprepared students. This courseware uses IT advances to monitor students performance at the nano" level and permits more rapid focused intervention when students are having problems. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have found that these courses can be delivered in half the time with the same or better results as entirely classroom-based instruction that relies on the sage on the stage." Involving faculty as stakeholders in these efforts has been critical to gaining acceptance and acclerating the pace of change. We have found faculty to be valuable partners and advocates especially when they see how they can meaningfully contribute to greater student success. At a public policy level Texas also has been a national leader in finding approaches that maximize the use of resources to serve and graduate more students. For example this year Texas is poised to take an important step with passage of outcomes-based funding for institutions especially those graduating more at-risk students. Leadership from the governors and lieutenant governors office legislative leaders like Representative Dan Branch and the higher education coordinating board have been critical to the near-success of this effort. Texas is also a key player in one of Luminas newest college-attainment efforts the Latino Student Success program. This program which involves 13 communities in 11 states including San Antonio and Uvalde ― is exactly what its name implies: a major effort to increase college success among the nations fastest-growing population group. We know as you certainly do that the success of Latinos is vital to Texas futureand to our future as a nation. In short theres simply no way that this kind of ambitious work can advance without the knowledge and expertise thats been developed here in Texas … and thats one of the reasons we keep coming back to the Lone Star State. This embrace of new ideas is encouraging ― not only in how you deliver college-level learning here in Texas but in where you choose to do so. Im referring here to the recent proposal to create a new university and medical school in the Rio Grande Valley region. I know this is still in its formative stages but however it turns out the states higher education and policy leaders are to be commended for taking a thoughtful regional approach. The concept of creating a new entity that is laser-focused on teaching and research designed to meet regional needs including improving quality of life and providing equitable outcomes for all students is a cutting edge idea. So at the risk of repeating the obvious theres a lot to like about Texas when it comes to increasing postsecondary attainment. You have a number of committed partners from all of the relevant sectors: higher-ed and K-12 systems local business leaders and employers policymakers and the philanthropic community. You have a wealth of experience in this work and an abundance of energy to continue it. Thats the good news … and it IS very good news. But heres the other side of that coin: Youre going to need all of that energy … and all of that experience … and every one of those commited partners. Because the challenges you face in boosting college attainment to the necessary level ― the challenges we all face as a nation are huge. Jamie P. Merisotis is president & CEO of of the Lumina Foundation the nations largest private foundation committed solely to enrolling and graduating more students from college. Long a champion of the idea that higher education enhances both society and individuals Merisotis has worked for decades to increase educational opportunity among low-income minority and other historically underrepresented populations.