Today I read an article in the May 1 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education discusses Lumina’s goal for 60% of the U.S. population to earn a degree or “credentials” by 2025. The same article points out President Obama’s 2020 goal for our country to have the “world’s highest proportion of college graduates.” Also today, my boss emailed to me a piece on adult educational attainment from The Nashville Business Journal. In 2008, (only) 29% of adults ages 25 and older in the U.S. had earned their bachelor’s degrees. In Tennessee, as of that year, 21.8% had completed bachelor’s degrees. In my mind, a vast abyss lies between 29% and 60%. However, the Lumina percentage includes associate degrees and people of ages below 25, and the NBJ figure does not . Of course, 60% is exceedingly better than 29%. I am not naive enough to think the road to almost two-thirds of the American population possessing a college degree will be easy. At the same time, I feel like it really should not be this hard.
-Teresa Bagamery Clark
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