For years Mississippi like other states pitched university degrees as a key to success.
“University graduates earn on average $1 million more in a lifetime than someone with a high school diploma,” proclaimed a 2007 blurb from Mississippi IHL, “and approximately $17,000 more a year than a person with some college.”
Yet, Mississippi has ranked at or near the bottom for university degree attainment for years. Most recently the state ranked next to last behind West Virginia. Only 22.8% of the population age 25 or older had at least a bachelor’s degree. Thirty-seven states achieved a 30% rate or higher.
But now Mississippi has a new pitch that is better oriented to our circumstances, one prompted by the Lumina Foundation.
“Ascent to 55%” is the new goal created by Accelerate Mississippi (the state’s workforce agency) in alliance with the Woodward Hines Education Foundation. The goal is to achieve by 2030 a 55% rate among working age adults for postsecondary degrees (community college and university) plus industry certifications earned after high school.
“Why does this goal matter?” states the Ascent web site. “Because a more qualified workforce yields higher wages and a stronger, more vibrant Mississippi economy.”
Lumina projects that nationally 60% of adults aged 24 to 65 will hold “a credential beyond high school” by 2025. Mississippi is currently estimated to have a 45.2% rate compared to the national average of 51.3%.
Note: The Census Bureau does not include postsecondary certifications in its data set for calculating educational achievement. Lumina devised a method to estimate these numbers.
Somehow this topic led me to wonder about trends in the educational attainment level of our Legislature which represents people at all attainment levels.
The profiles published by the Legislature are not consistent so it is hard to get firm numbers. Some profiles show actual degrees earned. Others only show institutions attended. Still, the overall attainment level appears to be high.
Assuming all graduated from institutions they listed, 79% of current House members hold university degrees, 12% community college degrees, 4% certifications (e.g. fire and law enforcement academies), and 5% high school diplomas. In the Senate 92% hold university degrees, 4% community college degrees, and 4% high school diplomas.
That computes to an overall 95% rate of postsecondary degrees plus certifications. With 28 of the 31 new members taking office in January holding university degrees, that percentage will hold.
The number of industry certificated persons in the House and Senate will not go up. As the push to award more such certifications gains momentum that may change. Meanwhile, the number of lawyers did go down, from 38 to 37.
“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” – Romans 12:2.
Crawford is a syndicated columnist from Jackson.
28 comments:
A graduate degree is great because it will help you get that higher-paying, do-nothing, unelected state government job.
The “myth” about having a college degree for everyone has sailed. Those with skilled trades
make much more than someone with a BA degree and no student loans to payback!
Colleges depend on federal money coming in that the students payback. What a racket!😂
I'm not sure 55% is realistic.
I think what Georgia did to guarantee the money for higher education at a state supported school for any high school graduate with a B average or higher works better.
But, also we don't keep our college graduates and too many incur burdensome debt.
While many applaud the reduction of lawyers, we need more that understand law well enough to make laws. Being a law school graduate doesn't mean much if you were at the bottom of your class, never passed the bar and couldn't do well enough to be successful.
Honestly, one of the most successful people I know is a friend who did trade school for air conditioning. After working for others, he opened his own place. Has more work than you can imagine. Has several working for him, has several trucks running. A/C and heaters will always need servicing so the demand will always be there.
Another one is a friend who worked for several different companies, learning all he could. Worked for a plumber, electrician, etc. Now he's trained in several fields and will never have to look for a job because one is always there. Same thing--you will always need a plumber, electrician, etc.
Nothing against multiple year degrees, but the trades are good paying jobs.
"Accelerate Mississippi" is part of the non-profit, education "arm of the state" cabal that runs Mississippi. Its sole purpose is to "complete" or "graduate" as many bodies (educated or not is completely meaningless) to keep the ocean of state/federal funds flowing into Mississippi and distribute (disappear) those dollars , and to allow its idiot "leaders" to say education in Mississippi - is headed upwards!!! Ha! Very few are learning anything, especially in the realm of self-discipline, but a whoooooole lotta of connected good ole' boys/girls are enjoying fat salaries and fatter pensions.
"Students" in Mississippi are used as whores for the pimps that get rich. Nothing more.
The elites of Mississippi have always sent their kids to college and continue to do so. It's the lower classes who are presented the options based on availability, costs, and job prospects. There has NEVER been any great impetus from the state or it's political leadership to provide higher education to the masses regardless of demographics. Not in Mississippi. If anything the idea that higher education is not for everybody will be favorably promoted in Mississippi more than any other state. We will continue to have the least educated population in the country. ....Look away, look away, look away Dixieland.
Anytime someone gets a degree or even a certificate , they just have to cross the state line and they can make more money and enjoy a better quality of life.
@10:39am - This guy gets it. I love my unelected state government job earning six figures. PERSSSSSS here I come!!!
The college board exists to raise tuition. The university system exists to encourage students to borrow money they can't repay.
There are too many people going to college, and not just in MS, but nationwide. Why? Because of all the Fed's "college loans". I wonder how many actually graduate? And of those that do, how many go into the workforce and stay versus those that can't find a job or don't want to work, and return to college for another two years?
Then there are those that propose free tuition for junior college attendance. What are the graduation rates for the states that do? Even less I'll bet. If something costs you nothing, you have little regard for it.
Nope, entirely too many people going to college.
@12:23pm - That’s great and all but why would I want to actually perform manual labor when I can get a degree and just read/send emails and attend pointless meetings all day in my “good paying” job?
Funny thing is everyone will want to become a plumber and electrician in about 3 more years when AI replaces every doctor and lawyer and all the other “professional” jobs AI can do faster, more accurately, and most of all, less expensively.
FYI Wall Street has been testing AI stock trading with fabulous success for nearly 10 years now.
Everyone makes great points here. If you’re willing to step out on a limb and go into business you can make more than someone with a master’s or a PhD. But not more than a phd in the medical field which in my opinion should be the ONLY phd’s earned. A small business can bring in 2 to 4 million per year easily if you’re willing to work at it. The magic word is “work”. How’s that for your pers? Those of us over in the private sector wage risk and reward and sometimes the reward is more than you can imagine.
@3:28pm - Keep dreaming
"Anytime someone gets a degree or even a certificate , they just have to cross the state line and they can make more money and enjoy a better quality of life."
December 10, 2023 at 1:20 PM
Very true! And that got me thinkin'. A former $12hr assistant has managed to get his CDL, with 'Enhancements', including HazMat certification and a seperate Forklift License. The ONLY thing keeping him in Mississippi, is that a Pearlgirl set out to get pregnant by him, and they share a kid (In true Serial Babymomma fashion, she's got another kid by another Child Support Slave).
The school system seems designed to destroy the lives of parents, rather than to free them to pursue careers. So, because the schools incessantly require both parents' "involvement", he can only take trucking jobs which don't take him outside the metro. This cuts his salary potential in half. And were he not a computer whiz, he'd be stuck working as a low-wage 'Igor' to Eastoverian monsters like me - even with all that trucking certification.
So, I'm wondering, now that 1:20 has got me thinking, what percentage of young men who've stayed in Mississippi, have done so, ONLY because some local has trapped them into fatherhood? And how many couples stay, ONLY because "Mama needs us"?
Two problems here in Mississippi.
1) The quality of education available in this state is pretty low. They admit anyone with a pulse, and so, the value of these degrees have diminished. I think for the ACT, USM/MSU/OM/JSU only requires a 16.
2) Where are these graduates going to work? Mississippi doesn’t have a Fortune 500 company. The government, hospitals and schools are the biggest employers. Outside of that, there are few opportunities.
The best and brightest leave this place for greener pastures. Both our kids left for college and will never come back to this uneducated dump.
.
12:55pm "Students" in Mississippi are used as whores for the pimps that get rich. Nothing more."
Dear Sir--may I suggest you had a little bourbon to your egg nog. My understanding is KF has an excellent recipe.
Geez. But for real, you need to get fresh air and fresh perspective. GTF outta here with that BS.
Bill--maybe you ought to consider hiring an assistant as your age begins to show.
Mississippi's attainment rate is 48.5% and we beat TN, LA, AR, AL, KY and WV (by a lot) among many others. Here ya go pal: https://www.luminafoundation.org/stronger-nation/report/#/progress.
If you dig in you can see that Lumina admits it is guessing on a lot of the data and doesn't know what states do but don't necessarily report. Derp.
Maybe you ought to do some real research (aka not Googling to your conclusion) before publishing this drivel.
It's not like Mississippi doesn't graduate advanced degrees. They just go to other states. The Psychology degree jobs are pretty atrocious in this state. God help you if you get a clinical Psychology degree. This state wants councilors not clinical psychologists.
I'm lucky I found a computer related job that pays relatively decent in this stats. My wife has to go back to school to get a councilor related degree despite having a more rigorous clinical psychology masters degree.
We need people who can operate forklifts and pick items for a conveyor belt.
Doesn't take a MBA for these jobs.
9:37 - Please tell us the value of a 'psychology degree', in Mississippi or anywhere else? It must be at least as valuable as a degree in art-history.
To your concluding point, the value of a degree is never determined by how 'rigorous' the course work was. And speaking of useless degrees, your Computer Science degree is right up there at the top.
By the way, the word is 'counselor'. And one will either be a counselor or won't be. No such thing as a 'counselor related job'.
Fun fact: More Mississippians have bachelors degrees today than ever before. Not sure where all this talk about brain drain is coming from. I grew up in another state and am well traveled. I’ve never seen a culture of self-hate like I see here. Its OK, people.
You should be able to mail a check to the college of your choice and in return they mail you a degree. Most of theses kids today leave college with no work skills, no work ethic and entitled.
12:52am, robots got those jobs a long time ago.
If I'm fourteen years old, my goal is to keep my current bedroom for five more years after high school, while attending free university, retaining my parents' insurance and receiving government stipends.
And by the time I'm 23, the government will have made it illegal for an employer to hire based on experience, skill level or perceived value to the company.
And do you think I will forever remember and thank the political party that made it all possible? You betcha.
10:40 is right in most cases.
Attending classes for useless lectures is such a waste.
For many degrees you should just pay for the paper and go to work instead of spending 4 years on campus.
5:00 mailed it. Parents cannot be mad or shocked that kids are all liberal when they were raised to be democrats from birth.
Conservative parents that spoiled this generation created them, en masse.
Just as long as our kids go to college - they said.
Who cares who the professors are? - they mused.
Professors are degreed and smart - they said.
My kid can read through bullshit - they said.
No way my kid can be turned liberal - they said.
Whatta you mean by liberal professors - they asked.
Who cares about the degree - He graduated.
I have her degree framed back there in her bedroom - She'll be home in about three hours - As soon as her shift at Wendy's ends and she gets her nails did. She's off tomorrow and is attending some protests.
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