North Carolina has hit a new milestone in the state's goal for educational attainment.
It began in 2019 when state lawmakers set an ambitious goal: for 2 million North Carolinians to have a college degree or industry-recognized credential by 2030. A state law that passed with bipartisan support charged the MyFutureNC commission with monitoring progress.
MyFutureNC鈥檚 President and CEO Cecilia Holden announced Thursday that North Carolina has now reached almost 1.7 million people aged 25 to 44 with a degree or credential.
鈥淭his achievement represents nearly 215,000 more individuals equipped with a degree or credential now ready to thrive in the workforce and propel our state forward,鈥� Holden said in a released Thursday.
Educational attainment has risen in 79 North Carolina counties, according to MyFutureNC鈥檚 .
鈥淧ositive change is not only possible, it's happening,鈥� Holden said. 鈥淏ut this is only 79, and our goal is to see improvement in all 100 counties.鈥�
MyFutureNC also released for every North Carolina county outlining their progress.
That growth has been fueled not only by college educated people moving to the state, but also by an increase in residents completing degrees. Since 2019, the state鈥檚 population of 25-44 year-olds has grown by 5%, but saw a 15% growth in degree holders.
Even with strong progress, the state is falling short of its goal.
鈥淵eah, we still have a shortfall, but this is also significant progress,鈥� Holden said. 鈥淲e are growing our own talent, and we are closing the gap.鈥�
In 2019, North Carolina was projected to fall short of the goal by 400,000 degree holders, and now it鈥檚 expected to be short by 55,000 individuals by 2030.
鈥淎t this point in time, we're 13,000 individuals shy of where we need to be to be on track to meet the goal,鈥� Holden said. 鈥淲e can't rest on our laurels, and additional steps are needed now to identify gaps that make up this projected shortfall.鈥�
To further this progress, MyFutureNC made several policy recommendations, including:
- Support for early childhood education.
- Expansion of scholarships for high-demand industry credentials that don鈥檛 require a college degree.
- Increase in grants that promote degree completion.
- Making the process to transfer college credits more transparent.
