The percentage of adults 25 and older in Los Angeles County intending to enroll in college exceeds the California state average.
Since releasing its report, “Postsecondary to Prosperity: Examining California’s Opportunity Landscape,” California Competes has continued to release key data to fuel interest in policy and action to promote equitable access and student success. Last week, data about higher education in Los Angeles County drew attention, notably that 44% of adults have expressed an intention to enroll in college in the next two years.
The Los Angeles County data was released to highlight information on the Postsecondary to Prosperity dashboard, a massive source of data made available by California Competes, which conducts higher education and workforce policy research to increase equity for Californians. The dashboard provides insights into disparities across the state.
“The goal is to elevate regional findings as well as data by race and ethnicity,” said Dr. Su Jin Gatlin Jez, executive director of California Competes. “The dashboard literally has thousands of data points. It’s our goal to curate pieces of information that people can engage in as per their interest.”
The data shows 61.6% of Latinx and 65.7% of Black adults over the age of 25 expressed an intention toward higher education. Also, 67.8% adults with income under $50,000 expressed similar views.
Since July, California Competes has received positive feedback on the dashboard, which provides information about higher education, employment and other areas such as home ownership and health insurance. For example, Black Californians are more likely to have completed an associate degree (44%) rather than a bachelor’s degree (24%). Bachelor’s degree attainment by region is greatest in Upper Sacramento Valley (34%) and Orange County (42%) and lowest in North-Far North (10%) and Imperial (0).
Jez said the data has been particularly useful for individuals and organizations that are trying to get a better understanding of the regional nuances around postsecondary access, workforce success and quality of life indicators.
