Related articles:

Study shows Pima Co. facing educational attainment gap

Other articles by Eric Swedlund:

Pecan exec dies in plane crash Manager of Green Valley pecan farm killed in plane crash Police chief eyes new policy on entrant reports Desert yields body of smuggler Marijuana smuggler killed by bandits south of Tucson, authorities say Monsoon's not over yet, thunderstorm shows Mexican man is suspect in S. Side killing Man arrested in death of his girlfriend in OV Boy, 11, locked in 'reeking' room; 2 held Tucson boy, 11, locked in 'reeking' room, detectives say

General
CORT
WAREHOUSE/DRIVER Health Care
Rio Salado College
PA's/Online Instructors Education
Assessment Technology, Inc
Social Studies Content Writer General
CORT
Warehouse Supervisor Construction
Komatsu Equipment Co
Mechanic

Opportunities for four-year college degrees in Pima County must catch up to a growing need, particularly in the Hispanic population, or the divide will drag the local economy further behind other Arizona communities, according to a study released Monday.

The problem is compounded by demographic shifts that point to nearly all the growth in Arizona coming in the Hispanic population, a group much less likely to have a college degree or even a high-school diploma.

Unless Pima County and the state develop approaches to educate many more Hispanics at the baccalaureate level, the educational attainment gaps will become even wider, said Dennis P. Jones, the study's author and president of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems.

"The bottom line is that Arizona has a lot more students coming of a type that has not been able to succeed in the enterprise as we know it," Jones said. "Very few of them have made it through the pipeline to a baccalaureate degree."

In 2005, Hispanic students made up 40.4 percent of Pima County 12th-graders, but just 22.5 percent of the population with bachelor's degrees. Conversely, whites were 48.7 percent of high school seniors, but 65.7 percent of the county's college-educated population. Other ethnic groups were less than 5 percent of the population.

Overall, Arizona young people lag behind older generations in educational attainment, mirroring the U.S. population.

Arizona has about 409,000 adults ages 25 to 44 with bachelor's degrees, currently lagging behind the national rate by almost 79,000. To reach the rate of the leading state, Massachusetts, Arizona would need almost 286,000 more bachelor's degrees.

Arizona is projected to remain the second-fastest-growing state, behind Nevada, until 2025. In that time, 4.5 million more residents are expected, 516,000 in Pima County, with nearly all state growth in the Hispanic population.

Jones said the growth in students in need of a bachelor's degree is likely to be among those who are less prepared, more economically disadvantaged and more in need of support.

"If you were to make a guess, the students who aren't being served look pretty much like Pima Community College students with a baccalaureate aspiration," he said.

Meeting that need in a state with a poor track record for funding higher education will require taking advantage of every institutional strength already in place, plus incremental implementation of more collaborative programs and potentially new bachelor's degree programs at PCC, Jones said.

Currently, Pima partners with both Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona on 2 + 2 programs, in which students receive community-college instruction for the first two years and remain there for the next two years, with university professors coming in to provide upper-division instruction.

The 2 + 2 structure has a lot of potential and Pima could ask the state to consider 3 + 1 arrangements to reach more students who would otherwise be unlikely to continue at the university level, said Chancellor Roy Flores.

Work-force needs are heaviest in nursing, teaching, various business fields, allied health professions and engineering. Many of those needs could be effectively filled by PCC, either entirely or in collaboration with universities, Jones said.

Pima board member Marty Cortez said the report is clear that more collaboration is necessary between the K-12 system, community colleges and the universities, particularly in assuring students are better prepared to move to the next level.

"The alignment of curriculum is crucial for students not to be discouraged," she said. "Having to take remedial classes sends a very bad message and it takes time and money."

While collaboration has been better in recent years, Cortez said all partners need to work to reach more students, particularly those who have to work while getting an education.

"We could also look at whether our programs are available to students at different times, evenings and weekends, and we have to ask that same question of the universities," she said. "We should give as many options as possible."