The cost of paying for a college degree has reached insane proportions, but according to a study released this week, by 2020, roughly 70 percent of available jobs in Michigan will require an education beyond a high school diploma.
The report from Business Leaders for Michigan says 34 percent of the state's residents currently have a college degree. That number must be doubled by the end of the decade in order for Michigan to remain competitive. In an interview with MLive, Dough Rothwell, CEO and president of the group, said:
"Michigan, historically, has not embraced higher education as a critical path to prosperity," Rothwell said in an interview with MLive. "Evidence of that is the great declines in support for college funding. ... Historically, you could get a good job without higher education and in today's world that just isn't the case."
The state ranks 31st based on the percentage of how many residents in the state have obtained an associates degree, the report says.
