The White House sponsored a College Day of Opportunity today that featured speakers from across the political spectrum in an attempt to highlight the pressing need for students across America to not only graduate high school, but also attend college.
“A college degree or credential is a necessity rather than a luxury,” said Cecilia Muñoz, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. “The bottom line is that a college degree remains one of the surest pathways into the middle class in the United States and an especially powerful engine of social and economic mobility.”
Director Muñoz cited multiple statistics to bolster her claim: 80 percent of jobs created over the next decade will require post secondary training; 15 out of 30 of the fastest growing industries will require college education of new hires; median annual earnings and unemployment rates are worse for those without a college education.
According to Department of Education statistics high school dropout rates steadily declined over the past 20 years, falling five percent nationwide. The improvements are largely due to gains in Hispanic dropout rates, which fell from 33 percent to 14 percent over the last 20 years.
“America thrived in the 20th century because we made high school free. We sent a generation to college. We cultivated the most educated workforce in the world,” said President Obama. “Along with our innovation mentality, our risk-taking, our entrepreneurial spirit, it was that foundation that we laid — broad-based, mass education — that drove our economy and separated us from the rest of the world.”
The President and the First Lady unveiled a plan to create outreach networks that will extend to hundreds of thousands students over the next decade in order to increase college enrollment. According to a White House blog, there are four main components to the plan: building a network of colleges focus on graduating students; create college preparedness programs for K-16 students; invest in top-notch high school counselors; and increase the number of graduates in science, technology, math and engineering fields.
