Wisconsin’s sectors of higher education are working toward an attainment goal of 60 percent of Wisconsinites ages 25 to 64 with a postsecondary credential by 2027. Wisconsin's current postsecondary attainment rate is 54.7 percent, as tracked by the Lumina Foundation’s A Stronger Nation report, up from 48.8 percent when the goal was originally set in 2017.
To reach our collective goal, the state must maintain current rates of attainment and significantly increase the number of people who enroll in programs and earn all types of credentials beyond high school.
Attainment rates vary greatly by county and geographic regions across the state. Only three counties, Dane, Ozaukee, and Waukesha, have met and surpassed the state goal. Much effort remains as we work toward attaining our goal to fill the in-demand jobs across our state.
Wisconsin needs to fill positions within business, healthcare, engineering, teaching, actuary, and computer science, to name a few. Careers in these professions require college education to equip people with the necessary critical skills and expertise.
College graduates are essential to the state’s skilled workforce now and in the future. Our future graduates will need to fill workforce roles that we cannot yet envision. Unfortunately, attainment is not equitable across all areas of Wisconsin.
Numerous strategies exist to support increasing educational attainment in Wisconsin. These include encouraging a postsecondary mindset by promoting college savings accounts, making additional investments in grant aid to attend higher education for both traditional and nontraditional students, tax incentives for investment by employers, and many more.
By 2029, Wisconsin is projected to face a deficit of 192,000 workers who have not obtained bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate degrees, resulting in a staggering $19.4 billion loss in economic output. This deficit hampers economic growth and hinders the state’s ability to compete on a national scale. The consequences of not meeting this goal are substantial.