Friday, September 27, 2013

Stop the brain drain


    A college or technical school degree has quickly become the new standard for success in the U.S. workplace. However, new Idaho education data shows that fewer than half of the state’s 16,647 grads continued their education after high school.
    While the fact that the state is now willing and able to collect this data is good news, what the data shows is not.
    Just 48 percent of Idaho high school grads go on to colleges or universities. No one knows why the rate is that low compared to the 2012 national rate of 66.2 percent calculated by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    Furthermore, no one knows what happens to the other 52 percent of Idaho high school students after they graduate. The state says it will to work with the Idaho Department of Labor to try to find out.
    The facts about higher education and jobs contrast starkly with the oft-stated belief that college degrees are overrated and that not everyone needs one. Various analyses show that more than 60 percent of jobs require a college degree today as opposed to just 28 percent in the 1970s.
    Not only do individuals need higher education, the state of Idaho needs to make sure they get it.
    Study after study has shown that people with college degrees earn up to 84 percent more in their lifetimes than high school grads. That makes them more financially secure, which benefits their families and communities. It makes states with better-educated populations more likely to be prosperous.
    New technologies have made nearly every industry more efficient and productive, which means that while companies may need fewer workers, the remainder must be more highly skilled to manage technology and to use the systems that make them efficient.
    Idahoans have never been wealthy compared to residents of others states. However, they surely do not need to become poorer.
    Now that the state has the data, it quickly needs to draft plans to ensure that Idaho doesn’t become more famous for its poor than for its potatoes.




About Comments

Comments with content that seeks to incite or inflame may be removed.

Comments that are in ALL CAPS may be removed.

Comments that are off-topic or that include profanity or personal attacks, libelous or other inappropriate material may be removed from the site. Entries that are unsigned or contain signatures by someone other than the actual author may be removed. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or any other policies governing this site. Use of this system denotes full acceptance of these conditions. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.

The comments below are from the readers of mtexpress.com and in no way represent the views of Express Publishing, Inc.

You may flag individual comments. You may also report an inappropriate or offensive comment by clicking here.

Flagging Comments: Flagging a comment tells a site administrator that a comment is inappropriate. You can find the flag option by pointing the mouse over the comment and clicking the 'Flag' link.

Flagging a comment is only counted once per person, and you won't need to do it multiple times.

Proper Flagging Guidelines: Every site has a different commenting policy - be sure to review the policy for this site before flagging comments. In general these types of comments should be flagged:

  • Spam
  • Ones violating this site's commenting policy
  • Clearly unrelated
  • Personal attacks on others
Comments should not be flagged for:
  • Disagreeing with the content
  • Being in a dispute with the commenter

Popular Comment Threads



 Local Weather 
Search archives:


Copyright © 2024 Express Publishing Inc.   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy
All Rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Express Publishing Inc. is prohibited. 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.