South By North Strategies, Ltd.

The latest issue of Carolina Context, a publication of the UNC Program on Public Life, critiques several recent national reports about the importance of postsecondary education and how North Carolina could strengthen higher education in the face of economic and social change.

The picture that emerges from these reports is that of powerful economic, demographic and technological forces presenting an array of challenges to test North Carolina’s mettle. The challenges arise even as the Governor, the General Assembly and all elements of state government confront an especially difficult budgetary outlook for the next fiscal year. Our purpose here is to give policymakers information that helps frame the decisions they will make in 2011.
…

The synthesized message is that nearly six out of 10 jobs in North Carolina’s near future are projected to require some higher education, principally in community colleges or universities. To meet that requirement, our higher education systems will have to elevate their completion rates substantially. Barely more than one in three North Carolina working-age adults holds an associate’s degree or higher.