Challenge We Face What Others Say Presentation Test Your Knowledge Vanishing Graduates Show Vanishing Graduates Tool Kit

The Challenge We Face

graduate tossing his capWe are in a flattening world; jobs move easily around the globe. In this highly competitive environment, the education of our workforce is more important than ever. But Minnesota’s supply of college-educated residents will soon fail to keep up with the economy’s demands.

We can address this “vanishing graduates” challenge; our quality of life here depends on it. First, though, more people will need to fully understand what we face.

Six factors come together to create this situation:

  1. Decline in numbers of high school students (more about factor 1)
  2. Lost opportunities when education ends early (more about factor 2)
  3. Education gaps for an increasingly diverse population (more about factor 3)
  4. Overall student performance falling short (more about factor 4)
  5. Demand for college-educated workers to exceed supply (more about factor 5)
  6. More education required for future innovation (more about factor 6)

<<We have a serious challenge in front of us and we ought to look at it and decide what we’re going to do about it.>>

—Jim Peterson, former president Gustavus Adolphus College and Science Museum of Minnesota