North Dakota has become the most recent state to join the Complete College America Alliance, a bipartisan effort aiming to increase national postsecondary attainment rates. Alaska, Delaware, Nebraska, North Carolina and Iowa remain the only states without a higher education system in the alliance since it began in January 2010.
With think tanks debunking recent narratives around higher education’s declining value, and reports asserting that 73% of the U.S. workforce will require a postsecondary credential by 2031, North Dakota’s participation highlights broader national buy-in in getting Americans enrolled in college.
“Our membership in this national coalition will bring data-informed strategies, research and innovation to our state—and new resources to deliver on the promise of partnering with other states and leaders to implement proven strategies and introduce new practices to prepare more North Dakotans for future jobs,” Tim Mihalick, chair of the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education, said in a press release.
State attainment rates growing nationally
Attainment of postsecondary credentials among 25-64 year-olds has climbed 16.2% from 2009 to 2022, according to the latest data available from the Lumina Foundation. With the national rate at 54.3%, states are pledging to reach 55% to 65% by 2030. Several states, such as California and Connecticut, have an ambitious 70% goal.
The Louisiana Board of Regents, which last reported a 48.3% attainment rate in 2022, recently announced a three-percentage point bump. Promising fall enrollment numbers may further buoy attainment rates. The Connecticut State Colleges and Universities report a 4.2% growth in student enrollment, and North Dakota’s rose by 3%.
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Much of this may be due to the rise in previously stopped-out learners returning to classes. Higher education in 2022-23 won back over 943,000 adults who previously stopped out, a 9.1% increase over the previous academic year.
However, state systems that have fought to raise their attainment rates and fall enrollment numbers may be cut short by their state appropriations committees. The Connecticut system, which relied on pandemic relief funds to upscale support services for Hispanic, Black and other minority populations, has been engaged in a year-long negotiation with the state legislature to help cover a $47.6 million budget gap, CT Insider reports. Louisiana is also bracing for a $250 million budget shortfall that could slash programs and deprive students of financial aid, according to nola.com.
“[P]ublic colleges and universities are increasingly expected to do more with less, to improve student completion rates as direct appropriations decline and college costs rise,” read a 2023 analysis from the Midwestern Higher Education Compact, which found that increasing state appropriation levels left a positive effect on graduation rates on average.
Luckily, national state higher education appropriations increased by 10.2% year-over-year in fiscal year 2024 for a total of $126.5 billion, according to the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association.
