A University of Oregon alumni with a bachelor’s degree will earn, on average, $1.2 million more than a high school graduate over the course of their lifetime, according to Roger Thompson, UO vice president for enrollment management.
“Higher education is an economic development tool,” Thompson said. “I’m not sure if our state has seen it that way over the years. But I’m hopeful that as a part of 40-40-20 that Gov. Kitzhaber view higher education as the economic tool that it is.”
Despite ranking third from the bottom nationally in high school graduation rates, the state of Oregon hopes to flip the switch and produce a 100 percent graduation rate by 2025.
A recent report from the U.S. Department of Education showed that Oregon had a 68 percent graduation rate for the second year in a row in 2013. Oregon beats Nevada’s graduation rate of 63 percent and the District of Columbia’s 59 percent.
The 40-40-20 plan is designed to boost educational attainment among Oregon residents and serve as an upward mobility tool to fuel the state’s economy.
The bill, passed in 2011, is meant to have 40 percent of Oregon residents with a bachelor’s degree or higher, 40 percent with an associate’s or equivalent degree and 20 percent receiving at minimum a high school diploma.
The UO is looking into how it can play a role in achieving the state’s goal.
One way the UO has helped is through the creation of Connected Lane County. The coalition pulls together all education providers in Lane County — from superintendents to university and community college presidents — to work together to ensure that young people in the county have the best possible educational services throughout their schooling.
“To get to a 100 percent graduating from high school, which is the first pillar of the 40-40-20, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done to get that piece accomplished,” Thompson said. “And then to have 40 percent of the state holding bachelor degrees, that becomes pretty challenging as well.”
Within the last 10 – 15 years, the UO has made strides in improving its own graduation rate, says Jamie Moffitt, UO vice president of finance and administration. The graduating class of 2013, for example, had the highest number of undergraduate degrees awarded in the university’s history with over 3,000, according to Moffitt.
A contributing factor to the increase of degrees may be the growth of enrollment at the university.
However, Thompson states the raw number of students is likely to decline from now until 2021 due to low birth rates. Although high school graduation rates may improve, the amount of students will likely be lower than previous years.
With so many future bachelor degrees, the remaining question is whether or not Oregon will have an adequate supply of jobs for an increased workforce.
“My first thought is that the idea is that the increase in college educated workers is expected by policymakers to induce firms to expand in Oregon,” said Oregon Economic Forum Senior Director Tim Duy. “Of course, this is a two way street. If the jobs are not available, then workers can leave.”