Kansas Post-Secondary Degrees Struggle to Match Workforce

The Kansas Education Commissioner says the state isn’t keeping up with getting the number of students with post-secondary degrees to match workforce needs.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Commissioner Randy Watson presented state Board of Education members with National Student Clearinghouse data at their monthly meeting Tuesday.

The statistics show that of the nearly 65 percent of Kansas’ 2010 high school graduates who immediately went to a post-secondary institution, less than half of them stayed in school for a second consecutive year.

Factoring in 2010’s 14 percent high school dropout rate in Kansas, Watson says the state’s workforce needs to have “some kind of skill beyond high school.”

Board members like Janet Waugh say the data’s concerning, and that it shows the state is “not doing a good enough job.”