Earning a high school diploma is a gateway to a wide variety of career opportunities. More than ever, many career paths require a high school diploma as a basic necessity, with an increasing number of jobs also requiring postsecondary credentials. In fact, the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce projects that by 2020, most job openings will require education beyond high school; of those job openings, 35% will require at least a bachelor’s degree and 30% will require some college or an associate’s degree.
College-educated adults also are more likely to be employed full-time than their less-educated counterparts and less likely to be unemployed. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2018, unemployment was 2.2% among adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher as compared to 4% among adults with only a high school diploma.
On the one hand, the high school graduation and college enrollment rates across the region over the last decade offer promising evidence that we are making progress toward reducing high school dropout rates and increasing students’ access to postsecondary education opportunities. The upward trajectory of these trendlines is particularly noteworthy because many New England states have also worked to implement more rigorous graduation requirements since 2009.
The current reality, however, is that while high school graduation and college enrollment rates have steadily increased, the likelihood of a student in New England actually completing a college degree or credential remains low. Given the increasing demand for a workforce with a college degree, there remains an urgency to working toward increasing overall college persistence and completion rates.
Let's use the discussion questions below to consider how we can effect change in our schools and communities.
