Education
Progress Meter
Post-Secondary Attainment
As of 2020, 65% of all jobs in the economy require postsecondary education and training beyond high school.
Post-secondary education means training or education after high school that leads to a certification, license or a degree. There are plenty of paths to get there…a technical institute, an apprenticeship, community college, university or even military service.
But today there aren’t nearly enough adults in Arizona with the training or education beyond high school needed to support the economy we want.
Arizona has established a goal of 60% educational attainment by 2030 as the North Star for what is necessary in education and workforce alignment for Arizona to have a thriving economy for future generations.
If we can increase attainment in Arizona to 60%, it could generate more than $3.5 billion in personal income and tax revenue into the state annually. That revenue would do great things for our communities and our individual quality of life.
Post-Secondary Attainment is defined in two ways:
- State data are presented as the annual percentage of Arizona residents who have some form of post-secondary certificate or degree. This could include education from a technical school, military service credentials, apprenticeships or a degree from college or university. It is on this measure that the goal of 60% is established.
- County and Demographic data are presented as the annual percentage of Arizona residents with a 2-year Associate’s degree or higher. This is due to the fact that annual data for these groups in the broader definition of attainment as described in (1.) are not generally within acceptable standards of error because of small sample sizes. If we included all forms of post-secondary credentials, this number would be approximately 5% points higher for most localities and demographics.
The Arizona We Want
Progress Meters
