Percentage of Iowans with more than high-school education rises again

The percentage of working-age Iowans with post-secondary education jumped 2.6% last year, the state reported.

The new figure of 60.2% compared with the state’s Future Ready Iowa goal of 70% by 2025. The biggest gains were in bachelor’s degrees and certifications in construction trades, Iowa Workforce Development reported.

In 2018, 57.6% of Iowans ages 25 to 64 had completed some form of education beyond a high school diploma. That could mean a college or university degree or a certification, for example.

Iowa Workforce Development reported that its annual labor survey showed the trend is up. The latest figures don’t include the effects of recent scholarship additions, state officials noted.

“Future Ready Iowa is making a difference for Iowans looking for a way up,” Gov. Kim Reynolds said in a statement. “But we are just getting started, and today’s results don’t even consider the 6,000 Iowans who received a Last Dollar Scholarship in 2019 to get into a high-demand job.”

Future Ready Iowa has been widely supported by Iowa business organizations because of a shortage of skilled workers in Iowa.

For example., the Greater Des Moines Partnership, a Central Iowa economic development organization, runs Future Ready DSM. That program is pushing for 75% of working-age adults to have degrees, certificates and other credentials by 2025.

The Partnership notes that Dell Technologies and the Institute for the Future estimate that 85% of the jobs that will exist in 2030 haven’t been invented yet. And 65% of children starting school today will one day hold jobs that do not yet exist.