Goal 5: GRADUATES and ENTERS A CAREER

Comprehensive student support services increase retention and expansion of co-op and work-related programs that will help students complete their postsecondary studies and enter a meaningful career.

Why Is It Important?

Research shows that a college graduate (community college, 4 year college or university), you will make $1.5M more money over the course of a lifetime than those who do not. National employment projections indicate that jobs requiring only a high school degree will grow by just 9 percent by the year 2008, while those requiring a bachelor’s degree will grow by 25 percent and those requiring an associate’s degree with grow by 31percent. (Center on Education Policy, 2001). Currently, there is an inadequate matriculation and retention rate of students enrolled in post-secondary education. Nationally, slightly half of all students who enter a post-secondary institution graduate from that same institution within six years (Tinto, 2002). The states of Ohio and Kentucky continue to lag behind the nation in the number of students who continue on to become college graduates, with less than 25% of Ohioans and only 20% of Kentucky residents holding a bachelor’s degree or higher (National Center for Education Statistics, 2004). The Northern Kentucky region must produce 11,140 more bachelor degrees annually in order to keep pace with the U.S. average (Kentucky Council of Postsecondary Education). Other statistics also indicate that Ohio is ahead of only 11 other states in number of residents earning a college degree (Governor’s Commission on Higher Ed & the Economy, 2005).