Degrees and Certificates Rise in U.S., but Not Fast Enough

Educational-attainment levels in the United States continued to grow in 2016, according to data being released on Monday by the Lumina Foundation, but the pace of that increase is not enough to put the nation on track to meet the goal of the foundation, and of many states, of having 60 percent of adults with a degree or credential of value by 2025.

According to the latest figures, 46.9 percent of the population held a degree or credential of value in 2016, up from 45.8 percent in 2015. Lumina began tallying such data in 2008. In 2014, it began to include credentials as part of the totals. Without credentials, the proportion of 25- to 64-year-olds with an associate degree or higher was 41.7 percent in 2016, up from 37.9 percent for the comparable figure in 2008.

Foundation leaders credited growing completion rates at colleges for some of the improvement, but Jamie Merisotis, the organization’s president, said the lagging rates of attainment for African-American, Latino, and Native American students were troubling.

As in 2015, the state with the highest attainment level was Massachusetts, with an attainment rate of 56.2 percent. The state with the lowest attainment rate was again West Virginia, with a rate of 34.7 percent. But West Virginia was also the state that has shown a sizable improvement in education levels since 2008; the proportion of adults with an associate degree or higher rose by 20 percent during that period.

During that same 2008-16 period, Nevada showed the smallest increase (less than 3 percent) in the proportion of adults with an associate degree or higher, and its overall attainment rate of 34.8 percent put it second to last among states.

Along with lifting the college-going rate among 18- to 24-year olds, Merisotis said, the foundation sees “huge opportunity” in raising the overall educational-attainment rate by focusing on adults who could benefit from a credential rather than a degree, and he noted that many federal lawmakers now seem attuned to that approach as well.

The foundation is also focused on the population — about 16 percent of all adults nationally — that has attended college but never received a degree or high-quality certificate. Lumina is also exploring ideas for bringing educational opportunities to adults at their workplace. Said Merisotis: “Watch this space.”

Goldie Blumenstyk writes about the intersection of business and higher education. Check out www.goldieblumenstyk.com for information on her new book about the higher-education crisis; follow her on Twitter @GoldieStandard; or email her at goldie@chronicle.com.