This information is from the "LB 637 Study of Dual Enrollment and Career Academies in Nebraska: Current practice and recommendations for the future," Prepared by Nebraska’s Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education in December 2011.
"A recent report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce shows that, as the economy slowly recovers, there will be a growing disconnect between the types of jobs employers need to fill and the numbers of Americans who possess the education and training required to fill them.
The report, Help Wanted: Projecting Jobs and Education Requirements Through 2018, forecasts that by 2018, 63 percent of all jobs will require at least some postsecondary education.
In Nebraska, that need is projected to be even greater, with 66 percent of jobs requiring postsecondary education by 2018 – the seventh-highest percentage among all states. Within the next six years, that translates to 56,000 new jobs in Nebraska that will require postsecondary education. (Carnevale, Smith,& Strohl, 2010)
Even though progress toward Nebraska’s higher-education goals is generally in the right direction, it is not aggressive enough to meet the state’s long-term needs and goals – including this growing need for a more educated workforce. As indicated in the state’s 2011 Higher Education Progress Report, produced by the Coordinating Commission, data indicates that:
• The college-going rate of Nebraska high school students continues to improve, but is not high enough to place the state among the top 10 nationally;
• Freshmen retention rates have risen only slightly since 2004, and college graduation rates also are only slightly higher. Furthermore, graduation rates are significantly lower for Hispanics, blacks, and Native Americans compared to white and Asian undergraduate students; and
• Nebraska’s needy students – particularly males – are enrolling and succeeding in higher education at much lower rates than their higher-income classmates.
Nebraska must address this issue through a comprehensive set of strategies that encourage our young people to graduate high school, advance to postsecondary education, and earn credentials that prepare them to be productive members of the state workforce, as well as more informed, involved members of their communities. Furthermore, these efforts must target not only high-achieving students – as has
been the case traditionally in this country – but our underrepresented student populations, such as minorities and those from low-income families. Dual-enrollment and similar programs should be a part of this effort."
