Value of a College Degree, New Data

Adults age 18 and older with a bachelor’s degree earned an average of $51,554 in 2004, while those with a high school diploma earned $28,645, according to new tabulations released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Those without a high school diploma earned an average of $19,169.
The series of tables, Educational Attainment in the United States: 2005, also showed advanced-degree holders made an average of $78,093.

Other highlights from the tables:

-In 2005, 85 percent of all adults 25 years or older reported they had completed at least high school. More than one-quarter (28 percent) of adults age 25 years and older had attained at least a bachelor's degree.

-High school graduation rates for women (ages 25 years and older) continued to exceed those of men, 85.4 percent and 84.9 percent, respectively. On the other hand, men had a greater proportion of the population with a bachelor's degree or higher (28.9 percent compared with 26.5 percent of women).

-Non-Hispanic whites had the highest proportion of adults with a high school diploma or higher (90 percent), followed by Asians (88 percent), blacks (81 percent) and Hispanics (59 percent).

-Utah, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire and Alaska continued to have the highest proportions of people 25 years and older with a high school diploma or higher (around 92 percent).

-The District of Columbia had the highest proportion of people 25 years and older with a bachelor’s degree or higher (47 percent), followed closely by Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland and New Jersey.

Fourteen tables of data on educational trends are available, and attainment levels are shown by characteristics such as age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, marital status, occupation, industry, nativity and period of entry, as well as metropolitan and nonmetropolitan residence.

The tabulations also include data on earnings and educational attainment. Although the statistics provided are primarily at the national level, some data are shown for regions and states.

The data are from the 2005 Current Population Survey’s (CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC). The ASEC is conducted in February, March and April at about 100,000 addresses nationwide.

Marketing Florida's Rural Regions

Enterprise Florida is implementing a rural strategic marketing effort to gather economic intelligence and perspectives for each of Florida’s Rural Areas of Critical Economic Concern (RACEC). The Florida Legislature has provided funding to help the three rural regions perform economic research, site selection, and marketing to produce a catalytic economic opportunity and a regional site within each RACEC. The Rural Economic Development Catalyst Project will target tomorrow’s industries with the goal of creating high value-added jobs, capital investment, and an economic ripple throughout each RACEC. Learn more about the Rural Economic Development Catalyst Project(Free My eFlorida Registration Required.)

Inter-American Development Bank

A long-standing initiative of the Latin American countries, the Inter-American Development Bank was established in 1959 as a development institution with novel mandates and tools. Its lending and technical cooperation programs for economic and social development projects went far beyond the mere financing of economic projects that was customary at the time.

The IDB’s programs and tools proved so effective that soon the IDB became the model on which all other regional and sub-regional multilateral development banks were created. Today, the IDB is the oldest and largest regional development bank. It is the main source of multilateral financing for economic, social and institutional development projects as well as trade and regional integration programs in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Strengthening Weak Market Cities

In this presentation at the 16th Annual Conference on the Small City, Jennifer Vey presented the Brookings Weak Market Cities Project. She discussed preliminary research findings and framework for policy reform. The poor performance of weak market cities is largely a function of the shifting national economy, negative demographic forces, and size.

The metro program hosts and participates in a variety of public forums. To view a complete list of these events, please visit the metro program's Speeches and Events page which provides copies of major speeches, PowerPoint presentations, event transcripts, and event summaries.

Renewing the Great Lakes Region

Despite its long leadership in manufacturing and business, assets like major universities, and abundant natural amenities, the Great Lakes region's industrial legacy has left it struggling to develop the human capital, entrepreneurial culture, and dynamic metropolitan regions needed to compete in the global economy.

This report examines the region's challenges, and calls for a new federal-state compact around a series of educational, economic, social, and infrastructure initiatives that can help the region reassert its global economic leadership.

ED Futures Update

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If keeping up on trends and issues in the economic development field is important to you, then you need to tune into ED Futures Journal.

Check us out and let us know what you think.

See you at the ED Futures website.

Contact Information:
Don Iannone
Publisher
Email: dtia@don-iannone.com
Tel: 440.449.0753

Tennessee's New 4-Point ED Plan

To drive future job-creation, Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen announced a new four-point plan:

Developing a More Skilled Workforce

Bredesen proposed establishing a more direct connection between education and workforce development with new initiatives centered on Tennessee’s community college system. Specifically:

• Launching new partnerships with major employers to design specialized community college programs that lead to jobs. The concept is an outgrowth of recent conversations with Wal-Mart, which said it might consider participating in a retail-management program.
• Creating intensive five-year high school programs that conclude with associate’s degrees. This initiative will be coordinated, in part, through community colleges.
• Eliminating community college tuition for any high school graduate in Tennessee who can demonstrate a reasonable level of college readiness — an incentive also reflected as a key plank in Bredesen’s strategy to raise high school graduation rates.

“Better leveraging Tennessee’s top-notch community college system is one of the best things we can do to improve the quality of our workforce,” Bredesen said.

Investing in New Infrastructure

Bredesen proposed a renewed commitment to opening up rural communities to more economic growth with better traditional and high-tech infrastructure. Specifically:

• Doubling the funding pool for annual FastTrack infrastructure grants from $14 million to $28 million. The grants, offered through the program formerly known as TIIPs, are available for local communities to make infrastructure improvements — such as adding electricity and water — at prospective industrial sites.

• Establishing a new grant fund to help local communities develop custom strategies for expanding broadband technology — a key infrastructure component in the new economy. Bredesen said the state will not promulgate a “one-size-fits-all” approach but will help communities develop their own plans.
• Taking a comprehensive statewide inventory of infrastructure needs in order to guide future infrastructure-investment priorities.

“Whether it’s traditional infrastructure like water, sewer and electricity, or high-tech infrastructure like broadband, we’ve got to know what we need and where, and then set priorities accordingly,” Bredesen said.

Fostering Innovation

Bredesen proposed stepping up the state’s commitment to producing high-quality research jobs with targeted efforts designed to assist but not interfere with innovation. Specifically:

• Establishing Innovation Tennessee, a new $5 million initiative to provide “seed money” to fund grants to innovative new businesses, as well as help take new ideas being created in our laboratories and universities and move them into the commercial marketplace.
• Partnering with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Tennessee Valley Authority to develop a fiber-optic network connecting the state’s nonprofit and government research institutions. At a state cost of about $3 million, the network will provide better data, voice and video connections between in-state research institutions ranging from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.
• Exploring new partnerships between the automotive industry, UT and other institutions to help Tennessee get a better toe-hold in automotive research and development (R&D) — a logical next step following the state’s 25-year successful track record in auto manufacturing.

Expanding Sales and Marketing

Bredesen proposed stepping up basic sales and marketing efforts at both the state and local levels. Specifically:

• Launching a statewide “Orange Carpet Tour” to showcase small- and medium-sized communities to national and regional economic development decision-makers, including industrial site-selection consultants. The tour, a nod to the Volunteer State’s favorite color, will be patterned on existing “red carpet tours” in other states.
• Expanding participation in the Tennessee Leadership Center, a resource for local economic development officials who want training, support or ideas to help ramp up business development. The center is part of Tennessee Tomorrow, a statewide partnership of public, private and academic leaders.

“If we’re going to succeed long term,” Bredesen said, “we’ve got to stay competitive by constantly stepping up our sales and marketing efforts.”

Learn more here.