The goal is to have 55 percent of Hawaii’s working-age adults hold a two- or four-year college degree by 2025.

Hawaii P-20 Partnerships for Education — led by the Executive Office on Early Learning, the state Department of Education and the University of Hawaii system — says increasing the number of college graduates is crucial if Hawaii wants to be competitive in the 21st century.

According to a press release, only 41 percent of Hawaii’s adults currently have a college degree. And one study found that 65 percent of Hawaii’s jobs will require at least a basic college degree by 2018, creating a 24 percent “skills gap that has alarmed Hawaii’s educational leaders.”

Only half of the students who start at a UH campus for a bachelor’s degree will graduate within six years with a degree. Of 100 Hawaii students who enroll at a community college campus, only five will graduate within three years, Complete College America found. 

Achievement gaps begin early. One of three third-graders in Hawaii is NOT reading at or above grade level. These students are more likely to struggle from elementary school through middle and high school and are less likely to attend, or much less, graduate from college with a degree. Roughly 6,000 Hawaii teens will drop out of high school this academic year alone.

P-20 has even launched a website with suggestions for parents, students, businesses and community organizations. 

Check 55by25.org to learn more. 

Courtesy of DeaPeaJay

— Alia Wong