A record number of students are being educated at two-year community and technical colleges and are transferring to four-year universities, a sign that more Louisianans are being educated than ever before.
As The Advertiser reports, new data from the Louisiana Community & Technical College System shows a record 28,000-plus graduates in 2015-16, with at least 80% graduating in “high-value” programs—those that are high-wage and high-demand. That means more people in Louisiana are earning credentials in fields they’re likely to find a job in and earn a good paycheck.
Many graduates also are looking to continue their education beyond the community college, as the system saw its number of students transferring to four-year universities last year grow from about 2,100 in 2014 to 15,805 in 2016.
“Every person in the state of Louisiana needs to know there is an on-ramp to a baccalaureate degree and it runs through the door of a community college,” System President Monty Sullivan says.
Of 15,805 transfer students, 86% transferred to schools within Louisiana. LSU’s flagship campus in Baton Rouge accepted 1,708 transfers, while Southern University accepted 472 at its local campus.
Sullivan is excited about the growth in LCTCS graduates and transfers, but it’s unclear if the growth will be sustained. He says much of the growth is the result of strategic investment from the Workforce and Innovation for a Stronger Economy Fund, or WISE Fund, created in 2014 by then-Gov. Bobby Jindal. But Sullivan is concerned about “the loss of the WISE fund resources going forward.”
