Dive Summary:
- Montana's investment in community colleges has created a 6% increase in adult college graduation rates, outpacing the rest of the nation's less-than-1% increase.
- Experts say the nation still needs around a 50% increase in graduation rates to meet President Barack Obama's 2020 deadline for producing more college graduates than any other nation, and the percentage of graduates has decreased in 15 states since the president set that goal in 2009.
- Montana credits its focus on non-traditional students through investment in its community colleges, where tuition has been frozen around $3,000 annually since 2007, for its progress toward the president's goal.
From the article:
... Thanks in part to such stories Montana's graduation rate climbed between 2008 and 2010 to 40 percent of state residents. Overall, the average U.S. completion rate is 38 percent.
Obama's goal calls for a 60 percent graduation rate, and two-year schools with programs similar to those at Helena College will be essential to getting there, Matthews said. And the deadline is significant, according to a Georgetown University study, 65 percent of U.S. jobs will require some form of post-secondary training by 2020. ...