WASHINGTON , D.C. – Drawing heavily on the latest U.S. Census data, a new Lumina Foundation report released Monday states that college degree attainment in the United States inched up to 38.3 percent in 2010 from 37.9 percent in 2008.
The progress is a little better for young adults, whose rates increased from 37.8 percent in 2008 to 39.3 percent in 2010.
The modest progress noted in the report—titled A Stronger Nation Through Higher Education – is still a far cry from the foundation’s “Big Goal” of having 60 percent of Americans get college degrees by the year 2025.
And, at the current pace, said Jamie Merisotis, president and CEO of the Lumina Foundation for Education, only 47 percent of the nation will have an associate’s degree or better by 2025.
Merisotis said the situation bodes ill for the nation’s ability to meet its workforce needs in a knowledge economy that is constantly changing and producing more jobs that require a college education.
“The degree shortfall is one of the most important challenges for ourselves and the country,” Merisotis said Monday at a congressional hearing room secured through the office of U.S. Rep. Ruben Hinojosa (D-Texas), who attended the event and commended Lumina’s report and Monday’s panelists for being “right on the mark.”
Merisotis said the challenge for higher education is to become more productive, more efficient and effective, and to increase capacity to make sure systems serve more people at the lowest cost per degree, while ensuring access and equity for the least well-served populations.
