Published January 16, 2020
Winooski, Vermont — Advance Vermont announced today the launch of a new interactive data dashboard to measure progress toward Vermont’s postsecondary attainment goal, illuminate equity-related gaps, and prompt action to increase Vermont’s postsecondary attainment rate. By 2028, 100 percent of Vermont’s high-demand, high-wage jobs will require education and training beyond high school, making completion of postsecondary credentials a key determinant of economic opportunity and social mobility.
“When making policy and programming decisions, it’s important to have hard data,” said Roxanne Vought, Deputy Director of Advance Vermont. “This dashboard gives policymakers, education and training providers, and workforce development professionals a valuable new tool as we work to ensure that all Vermonters have access to the education and training they need for both their own individual prosperity and the economic growth of the state.”
In 2019, Act 80 established the goal that 70 percent of working-age Vermonters will hold a “credential of value” – such as an apprenticeship, certificate, or degree – by 2025. Today, only 50 percent of Vermont workers have a credential beyond a high school diploma. Approximately 68,000 more Vermonters need to complete a postsecondary credential by 2025 in order to achieve the state’s goal.
To inform their efforts to increase postsecondary attainment, state leaders need to be able track progress throughout the education continuum. Advance Vermont’s data dashboard includes 26 indicators of postsecondary success in the areas of postsecondary readiness, aspiration, affordability, enrollment, completion, and career readiness. Where possible, data are disaggregated by region and identity. Metrics were identified and vetted by a working group of education and workforce data experts and informed by similar efforts across the nation. Visit the dashboard here.
In addition to the data dashboard, Advance Vermont recently unveiled new research on Vermont students enrolled in postsecondary education and training programs. The findings show that today’s students are juggling work, family, financial, and other life responsibilities like no generation before them. Visit here for the full report.
