Report: Washington state higher education in crisis

Written by kie | The Bellingham Herald | January 10, 2012

In case you missed it, education researchers at the University of Pennsylvania just released a new report that basically says Washington state is falling down on the job when it comes to providing opportunities for a college education.

And that’s a problem for a state economy that is one of the most tech-intensive in the nation.

The researchers say that 67 percent  of all jobs in Washington are projected to require workers to have at least some post-secondary education or training  by 2018, but that the state isn’t doing enough to make sure its own residents will be able to compete for those jobs.

Here’s an excerpt from the report :

Washington is one of the top-ranked states in the nation in the share of students who graduate from public four-year institutions within six years of enrolling. But this statistic masks the fact that Washington lags behind most other states in the total number of bachelor’s degrees produced per capita. And although Washington ranks 11th in the nation in the percentage of adults who have earned at least an associate’s degree, the state’s success in this area stems from its ability to attract well-educated residents from other states and countries, who help to raise the level of education of the state population as a whole.

The authors blame a lack of leadership from policymakers.

The report was released at the start of the legislative session on Monday, Jan. 9,  in which lawmakers are grappling with how to close a projected $1 billion budget shortfall.

Higher education has received steep cuts in recent years because of the state’s own budget crisis.

Here’s an Associated Press story on the issue.

Read the full report here.

Tags: education, Higher Education