A STRONGER IO through higher education Ten-year time horizon brings Goal 2025 into sharp focus An annual report from Lumina Foundation In this report: The higher education attainment rate of the U.S. and every state, showing how rates have changed over six years. The attainment rate for every county and the 100 most populous metropolitan areas in the U.S. Breakdowns of the attainment data, including by race and ethnicity. A snapshot of current college enrollment, broken down by age, race and ethnicity. A road map to reach Goal 2025. A description of some of the metrics Lumina uses to track progress toward increasing college attainment. Tracking the trend Percentage of the country’s working-age population (25-64) with at least an associate degree 37.9% 38.1% 38.3% 2008 2009 2010 38.7% 39.4% 40.0% 2011 2012 2013 Our time is limited, but reaching Goal 2025 looms large en years. Sounds like a long time, and cohesion — college success must success. But Tdoesn’t it? expand dramatically, and in all directions. this year, Well, it isn’t. Think back a decade. In Postsecondary credentials must be made 2015, we are 2005, George Bush was beginning his available to — no, expected of — acutely aware second term as president. Million-Dollar millions more Americans, from all walks of the Baby won the best-picture Oscar. Rosa of life. 10-year time Parks and Johnny Carson both died that For many decades, education has horizon. year. Hard to believe a decade has passed. proven to be this nation’s single most Modest Or try looking back 10 years in your own powerful engine of individual progress progress isn’t life — to the birth of a son or daughter, and upward mobility. And in today’s enough. perhaps, or to your college graduation. rapidly changing workplace, that’s truer Clearly, Seems like yesterday, right? than ever. In fact, experts say some form the challenge Ten years can pass quickly — especially of college-level learning is a necessity for presented by when those years are measured against anyone who seeks a spot in the middle Goal 2025 is formidable. Much work lies the big things in life, the things that really class. That’s a potent argument as the ahead as we try to reach that 60 percent matter. nation confronts the problems caused by attainment rate … as we seek to ensure Here at Lumina Foundation, we’re rising levels of inequality. that these newly earned credentials focused intently on something that really That’s why we take Goal 2025 represent the learning that students truly matters: Goal 2025, the ambitious seriously. And taking the goal seriously need … as we strive for equity by closing college-attainment goal that drives all we means that we regularly monitor progress attainment gaps linked to race, ethnicity, do. That goal calls for 60 percent toward that goal, from every level income and age. of Americans to hold a — beginning with national This work cannot be ours alone. What’s college degree, attainment figures and required is a national effort, a movement certificate or other For the nation to extending all the way that involves every person who has a stake high-quality to our own actions in the success of an American student. In postsecondary attain, not just and activities here other words, Goal 2025 requires action credential by the at Lumina from everyone, including you. year 2025. economic security, but Foundation. And this report can help. The For us, Goal social justice This annual information on these pages has power. It 2025 isn’t just a report, A Stronger can help you better understand and number or a and cohesion, college Nation through address the problems that hinder college convenient way Higher Education, is attainment. In fact, the data in Stronger to organize the success must expand our most visible Nation can be an immensely useful tool Foundation’s work. dramatically. tool in that ongoing that you can use to improve student We’re convinced — effort. Like all earlier success in your own state, county or and economists and editions of the report, metropolitan area. other experts give us good this one, our sixth, is We urge you to use this report — and reason to be convinced — that designed specifically to track the additional tools available online at reaching this goal is a national imperative. progress toward Goal 2025 — on a www.luminafoundation.org/stronger_ The only way the United States can meet national scale, from the perspective of the nation — as you embrace the vital effort its growing need for talent is to country’s largest metropolitan areas, in to increase postsecondary attainment. The significantly increase Americans’ each of the 50 states, even down to the challenge is difficult, but the payoff will attainment of high-quality, college-level county level. be huge — for millions of individual credentials. It’s the only way we can And this edition of Stronger Nation Americans and for the nation as a whole. prepare for lasting success in the continues the basic trend noted in And, yes, the clock is ticking… workplace and in life. previous editions: It cites modest progress And let’s be clear. We mean all toward the goal in most areas. We Americans, not just those born into celebrate that progress, of course, and we certain families or neighborhoods or know it reflects the energy and effort of income brackets. For America to truly thousands of dedicated individuals and prosper — for the nation to attain, not scores of organizations who share our Jamie P. Merisotis just economic security, but social justice commitment to increasing student President and CEO, Lumina Foundation A STRONGER NATION THROUGH HIGHER EDUCATION 1 A new urgency drives the vital national effort to increase postsecondary attainment t the end of 2015, there will be 10 years However, while the nation is making progress remaining for the nation to reach Goal 2025: in increasing postsecondary attainment, that AGoal 2025. Given the significance of progress is not nearly sufficient to reach this milestone and the increasing urgency By 2025, 60 percent Goal 2025. There are two issues that must of making substantial progress toward Goal be addressed: closing the significant and 2025, this year’s issue of A Stronger Nation of Americans will have persistent gaps in postsecondary attainment through Higher Education focuses on progress to among various segments of the population, date in increasing attainment and the work a high-quality and accelerating the rate at which overall that remains to reach the goal. postsecondary attainment increases. Status report on Goal 2025 credential. Attainment gaps The metric used by Lumina Foundation to As in past years, attainment rates vary track progress toward Goal 2025 is the higher education significantly based on race/ethnicity, geography and other attainment rate of the nation’s population of working-age factors. These gaps in attainment are increasingly worrisome residents — those between the ages of 25 and 64. The source of because postsecondary credentials are the gateway to full this data is the most recent year from the American Community participation in society — economically, civically and culturally. Survey of the U.S. Census. This year’s report reflects data from For this reason, attainment gaps linked to race and ethnicity 2013. deserve special scrutiny. While the overall attainment rate is 40 By this measure, the U.S. higher education attainment percent, the rate for African Americans is only 28.1 percent. rate is 40 percent. This is a modest increase over last year’s The rates for Native Americans and Hispanics are even lower, rate of 39.4 percent. Since 2008, the U.S. higher education at 23.9 percent and 20.3 percent, respectively. The good news attainment rate has increased by 2.1 percentage points. This is that all of these rates increased this year (see graph on Page represents an increase of more than 2.8 million degrees over the 4). Still, the gaps in attainment have not narrowed appreciably. expected total. This progress reflects both increasing demand Since nonwhite residents account for a growing share of the U.S. for postsecondary credentials by millions of Americans and the population, these persistent gaps in attainment are arguably the efforts of higher education institutions, policymakers and many most serious threat to the nation’s ability to reach Goal 2025. others to respond to that demand. For our part, Lumina Foundation has increased its commitment Keeping with the trend of recent years, the higher education to addressing what we call the equity imperative — the pressing attainment rate of the young adult population — those between need to close gaps in attainment linked to race and ethnicity. the ages of 25 and 34 — is higher than that of the overall Increasing overall attainment and closing attainment gaps adult population at 41.6 percent, and it has increased by 0.7 both depend on a range of factors, mostly related to student percentage points from last year. Since the attainment rate pathways into and through postsecondary education. These among young adults was actually lower in 2008 than that of the factors must combine in ways that ultimately lead to increasing overall adult population, this rate — our best leading indicator of the number of Americans who obtain high-quality degrees and future attainment rates — is heading in a positive direction. other credentials. The actual work of increasing attainment is Levels of education for United States residents, ages 25-64 Less than ninth grade 7,849,104 4.72% Ninth to 12th grade, no diploma 11,958,503 7.19% TOTAL High school graduate (including equivalency) 43,843,773 26.37% 166,246,625 Some college, no degree 36,174,067 21.76% Associate degree 14,710,826 8.85% Bachelor’s degree 32,970,178 19.83% Graduate or professional degree 18,740,174 11.27% Source: U.S.