As centers of education, research, and innovation, public colleges and universities spur economic development throughout the state. They help train and educate our ever-growing workforce, ensuring our state remians competitive in the global economy.
Access to higher education is also a key contributor to family economic security and upward mobility. Since 1980, median family incomes have risen steadily for adults with four-year or graduate degrees, but have stagnated or declined for those with lower levels of education. Children from lower income families who do earn a college degree are particularly likely to make higher incomes as adults.
Yet over the past two decades, Washington state’s financial support for higher education has not kept pace with population growth and rising costs.
To ensure a strong foundation for Washington, we must increase public investment in higher education. Doing so will require identifying new sources of public revenue, but will result in a stronger state economy -- supported by a highly trained and educated workforce.
10.26.2012
| Growing numbers of Washington’s high school
graduates are losing their shot at the American
Dream. It is time to radically rethink how
Washington state finances its public colleges and universities, so
the American Dream stays within reach of every student willing to put
in the time and effort to succeed in school.
This
work is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License
from the Economic Opportunity Institute. Liquid layout
thanks to Matthew James Taylor.
