A bit of surprising news in the recent spate of education data designed to help Louisville grapple with the need to raise education attainment in order to compete for 21st Century jobs.
Only 7% of working age adults in Louisville Metro hold an Associate Degree, although that degree represents a solid credential for many 21st Century jobs.
And that lower-than-expected rate didn’t put Louisville out of step with its peer cities: the rate across the 15 cities ranged from 5% or 6% up to a high of 10%. That benchmark became Louisville’s new goal with the signing May 13 of the Greater Louisville Education Commitment.
In addition to increasing the percentage of working-age adults who hold a Bachelor’s Degree or higher, it calls for increasing to 10% the percentage with an Associate’s Degree. Attaining that goal will require increasing the current number by 15,000.
Over this decade, postsecondary schools in the Louisville region have increased degree production in all categories by as much as 40%, according to the Human Capital Scorecard commissioned by KentuckianaWorks. But the fastest growing credentials are technical certificates below the level of Associate Degree.
One route to raising Louisville overall attainment rate will lie in expanding the pathways along which students of all ages can earn a series of such certificates – and end up with an Associate Degree.
Some call that “nesting” the earning of certificates over the sometimes protracted course of study required for working adults – and even younger students who bear adult responsibilities for family -- to earn an Associate’s Degree. Under that scenario, students earn valuable credentials as they move through the full course of study, and, however long it takes, apply the course work that earned those certificates to come out with an Associate’s Degree.
That’s the kind of new thinking – and willingness to deal with the realities of students’ lives -- about how to structure and design the path to higher education that we need to nurture and explore.